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The  Life 

of 

William  Jennings  Bryan 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://archive.org/details/lifeofwilliamjenOOherr 


©  Copyright  A.  J.  Thuss,  Nashville,  Tenn- 

The  last  formal  portrait  of  William  Jennings  Bryan,  posed  in  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  en  route  to  the  evolution  trial  at  Dayton. 


The  Life  of 

Militant  fettttmgg  ISrpan 

BY 
GENEVIEVE  FORBES  HERRICK 

and 

JOHN  ORIGEN  HERRICK 

Nationally-known  editorial  writers 


Sllustrateb 


Copyright,  1925 

BY 

Grover  C.  Buxton 

PRINTED  IN  U.  S.  A. 


FOREWORD 


This  Life  of  William  Jennings  Bryan  is  the  simple  story  of 
a  simple  man,  who  was  known  to  the  people  of  America  and  the 
world  as  the  Great  Commoner  because  he  found  the  Divine  spark 
in  the  soul  of  the  humblest  of  his  fellow  men.  This  biography 
tells  the  story  of  his  life  without  attempting  any  searching  criticism. 
His  notable  career  and  his  death  are  too  near  at  hand  at  this 
writing  to  make  such  an  attempt  productive  of  anything  more  than 
a  very  narrow  view.  In  the  perspective  of  the  future  his  career 
will  be  viewed  more  truly,  and  the  nation's  progress  will  weigh  his 
merits  and  his  faults  with  a  certain  balance. 

Much  of  the  material  in  the  closing  chapters  of  this  book  was 
drawn  from  personal  contact  with  the  man  and  the  events  in  which 
he  so  largely  dominated.  Other  material  has  been  garnered  from 
the  contemporary  chroniclers  of  his  activities — the  newspapers  of 
the  country — where  anything  that  had  to  do  with  Bryan  was 
always  sure  of  a  "front  page  play."  Facts  concerning  his  early  life 
have  been  drawn  in  part  from  a  sketch  written  by  his  wife,  to 
whom  due  appreciation  is  here  made.  Bryan's  own  book,  entitled 
"The  First  Battle,"  was  used  as  a  source  for  certain  facts  concern- 
ing his  terms  in  Congress  and  the  convention  and  campaign  of  1896. 

The  running  story  of  his  life  largely  found  expression  in  his 
speeches,  and  extracts  from  these  are  frequently  incorporated  here 
as  the  best  obtainable  delineation  of  the  character  of  this  one  of 
the  most  notable  Americans  of  modern  times. 

Genevieve  Forbes  Herrick. 
John  Origen  Herrick. 

Chicago,  August  15,  1925. 


DEDICATED 

By  the  Authors 

TO  EACH  OTHER 

Companions  in  the  work  and  play  of  marriage 


PREFACE 


At  home  on  Sunday  evening,  July  26,  we  received  over  the  radio 
the  sad  news  of  Mr.  Bryan's  death.  After  a  few  moments  of 
silence  my  wife  said  "Why  don't  you  publish  a  Biography  of 
Mr.  Bryan?  There  are  millions  of  people  who  will  want  to  read 
the  story  of  his  life  in  a  more  connected  form  than  they  have  been 
able  to  get  it  through  the  newspapers." 

I  meditated  on  the  suggestion  for  a  few  days  and  finally  men- 
tioned the  subject  to  my  good  friend,  John  Herrick  and  his  wife, 
Genevieve  Forbes  Herrick,  the  widely  known  feature  writers  on 
the  Editorial  Staff  of  one  of  Chicago's  leading  newspapers. 

Mr.  Herrick  had  just  returned  a  few  days  before  from  Dayton, 
Tennessee,  where  he  had  seen  and  heard  the  Great  Commoner 
defending  "the  faith  of  our  fathers."  He  was  so  deeply  impressed 
with  Mr.  Bryan's  sincerity  and  earnestness,  and  with  his  determina- 
tion to  fight  to  the  very  last  for  principles  he  believed  to  be  right, 
that  it  was  no  difficult  task  to  persuade  him  and  his  able  wife  to 
burn  the  midnight  oil  for  the  next  few  weeks  in  preparation  of 
this  work. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  biographers  in  the  future,  after  years  of 
thought  and  study,  will  be  able  to  write  a  story  of  Mr.  Bryan's 
life  with  more  of  the  human  interest  element  in  it  than  this  volume 
contains.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  eulogize  Mr.  Bryan  nor 
to  emphasize  his  manly  virtues  beyond  their  just   deserts. 

If  this  biography  will  help  those  who  read  it  get  a  clearer  vision 
of  the  principles  of  right  and  justice  for  which  the  Great  Commoner 
lived  and  fought  and  died,  the  authors  and  publishers  will  feel  that 
their  purpose  has  not  failed.  It  is  hoped  and  believed  that  a  study 
of  this  Life  will  stimulate  a  greater  devotion  to  the  ideals  and 
principles  for  which  he  gave  his  life. 


Immortality 

God  may  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  the  evolu- 
tionists, and  a  life  beyond  may  have  no  charm  for 
them,  but  the  masses  of  mankind  will  continue  to 
worship  their  Creator  and  continue  to  find  comfort 
in  the  promise  of  their  Savior  that  He  has  gone  to 
prepare  a  place  for  them.  Christ  has  made  of  death  a 
narrow,  starlit  strip  between  the  companionship  of 
yesterday  and  the  reunion  of  tomorrow;  evolution 
strikes  out  the  stars  and  deepens  the  gloom  that  en- 
shrouds the  tomb. 

— From  Bryan's  Posthumous  Speech. 


'He  who,  from  zone  to  zone, 

Guides  through  the  boundless  sky  thy 

certain  flight, 
In  the  long  way  that  I  must  tread  alone 
Will  lead  my  steps  aright!' 

William  Cullen  Bryant. 

(Bryan's  favorite  verse  of  poetry.) 


List  of  Illustrations 


Page 

Father  and  Mother;  Birthplace 35 

At  11  and  24  Years  of  Age 36 

Lawyer,  Student,  Orator,  Colonel 53 

Two  Early  Homes 54 

Mrs.  Bryan,  the  Favorite  Portrait 71 

First  Lincoln,  Neb,  Home 72 

Bryan  at  His  Desk,  About  1896 89 

The  3rd  Nebraska  and  Their  Colonel 90 

Bryan,  Taken  About  1900 107 

The.  Fairview  Farmer 108 

As  the  "Silver  Tongued  Orator" 125 

Around  the  World,  in  Egypt 126 

Mrs.  Bryan,  a  Late  Picture 143 

A  Family  Group  in  Florida 144 

With  Wilson;  at  Disarmament  Parley 161 

As  Secretary  of  State 162 

Portrait  at  Time  of  Resignation 179 

As  Dry  Leader;  a  Cartoon 180 

With  Billy  Sunday 197 

Addressing  Christian  Endeavor  Convention 198 

With  Candidates  of  1920  and  1924 215 

With  Carnegie,  J.  J.  Hill,  and  John  Mitchell 216 

At  Home  in  Florida 233 

Bryan,  His  Brother,  and  Sisters 234 

Viewing  the  Eclipse,  January  24,  1925 251 

Arrival  in  Dayton;  State's  Counsel 252 

John  T.  Scopes  and  His  Father 269 

Clarence  Darrow  Greeted  by  Scopes 270 

Poses  During  Scopes  Trial 287 

Judge  Raulston  and  Court  Aides 288 

In  the  Dayton  Courtroom 305 

With  His  Son,  William  J.  Bryan,  Jr „ 306 

Two  Portraits  During  Court  Battle 323 

Bryan  and  Darrow ~ 324 

A  Modern  Crusader,  Taken  in  Dayton 341 

Preaching  from  Dayton  Pulpit 342 

Bryan  Is  Dead;  Guard  of  Honor 359 

Casket  Entering  Washington  Church 360 

Lying  in  State;  Funeral  Scene 377 

Burial  in  Arlington;  Site  of  iGrave 378 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 

Last  Will  and  Testament 21 

Chapter  I — Bryan  and  His  Greatness 27 

Leader  in  Politics,  Social  Reform,  and  Religion — Likened  to 
Henry  Clay — Courage,  Sincerity,  Ambitions,  Honesty — Fought  for 
Religion  and  High  Morals — Appealed  to  Heart,  Not  Intellect — 
Wilson  and  Roosevelt,  Aristocrats ;  Bryan,  the  Democrat — Friends 
and  Enemies — Greater  Than  the  Bosses — Lover  of  Peace,  Not  a 
Pacifist— Died  in  the  Battle  for  His  Faith. 

Chapter  II — In  the  Beginning 32 

Ancestry — Judge  Silas  L.  Bryan,  the  Father — Mariah  Elizabeth 
Jennings  Bryan,  the  Mother — Political  and  Religious  Heritage — 
Born  in  Salem,  March  19,  1860— "Lawyer  just  like  father"— 
Father's  Campaign  Fires  Political  Ambitions — Prepares  for  the 
Academy. 

Chapter  III— The  Student 43 

Whipple  Academy — Lives  at  Home  of  Dr.  Hiram  K.  Jones — 
Sigma  Pi  Literary  Society — Illinois  College — Period  of  Skepti- 
cism— College  Oratory — Wins  Prizes — Valedictorian — What  They 
Thought  of  Him. 

Chapter  IV — Blackstone  and  Orange  Blossoms 52 

Meets  Mary  Baird — Her  Estimate  of  Young  Bryan — Frequent 
Caller — The  Courtship — April  Fool  Joke — Chicago  Union  College 
of  Law — Lives  in  Home  of  Lyman  Trumbull — Law  Degree,  1883 — 
Returns  to  Jacksonville — Enters  Law  Practice — How  He  Asked 
Mary's  Father — Marriage,  October  1,  1884. 

Chapter  V— Young  Lawyer,  Coming  Politician 60 

Chance  Visit  to  Lincoln,  Neb. — Removes  There,  1887 — Law  Part- 
nership with  A.  R.  Talbot — Builds  Home — Law  Practice — Meeting 
With  Charles  G.  Dawes — His  First  Political  Appearance — Speaks 
at  Democratic  State  Convention — Enters  Politics,  but  Declines 
Nomination  for  Lieutenant  Governor — Congressional  Timber. 

Chapter  VI—(Boy  Orator  oi  the  Platte" 67 

Nominated  for  Congress — Writes  Silver  Plank  in  State  Platform — 
Debates  with  Connell — Presents  Him  with  Gray's  "Elegy" — 
Stumps  District — Wins  Election  by  6,713  Votes — Fifty-Second 
Congress — Member  Ways  and  Means  Committee — Free  Wool 
Speech — The  "Cahoots"  Story — Demonstration  for  the  "Boy  Ora- 
tor of  the  Platte." 


WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 
Chapter  VII— The  Silver  Tongue  Talks  Silver 84 

Second  Campaign  for  Congress — Debates  with  Judge  Field — Wide 
Acquaintance — Wins  by  140  Votes — Beginnings  of  Silver — Con- 
ference of  '89 — Western  States  Congress  of  '91 — Anticipates 
Attack  on  Sherman  Law — State  Party  and  Bimetalic  League  Con- 
ventions— Fifty-third  Congress — Speech  Against  Unconditional 
Repeal  of  Sherman  Law — Lincoln  Homecoming — Speech  on 
Jefferson— Editorial    Staff,   Omaha  World-Herald. 

Chapter  VIII— The  First  Battle 100 

Chicago  Convention  of  1896 — Mrs.  Bryan  Hopeful — Silver  Repub- 
licans Have  Bolted — Split  over  Temporary  Chairman — Platform 
Fight — Money  Plank — Bryan  In  Charge  Silver  Debate — Answers 
Senator  Hill  with  "Cross  of  Gold"  speech — Victory — Silver  and 
People's  Parties  Also  Nominate  Him — Notification  at  Madison 
Square  Garden — Speech  of  Acceptance. 

Chapter  IX— "The  Cross  oi  Gold'9 115 

Shot  into  Fame  by  One  Speech — Definition  of  a  "Business  Man" — 
Need  for  a  Jackson  to  Stand  Against  Organized  Wealth — Gold 
Standard  More  Deadly  than  Protective  Tariff — Issue  of  76  Over 
Again — "Crown  of  Thorns;  Cross  of  Gold" — Convention  Stam- 
peded— Five  Ballots — Bryan  Nominated. 

Chapter  X — The  First  Campaign 128 

Campaign  Tour  Sets  Record — First  Campaign  Speech  at  Madalin, 
N.  Y. — West  to  Chicago — Labor  Day  Speech  in  Chicago — First 
Silver  Horse-shoe — Crowds  Night  and  Day — This  Swing  Totals 
3,898  Miles— Third  Trip  Starts— Heckled  by  Yale  Students- 
Takes  Boston  by  Storm — From  New  England  West  Again — Last 
Speech  at  Chicago— Third  Trip  Ends,  18,009  Miles— Election  Day 
— McKinley  Wins — Beaten  But  Not  Defeated. 

Chapter  XI — Energy  and  Oratory 152 

No  Eight-Hour  Day — Answers  60,000  Letters — Typical  Campaign 
Day — Drinks  Water — Day's  Time-Table — Health — Care  of  Voice — 
Lost  Syllables — Gestures — Style  of  Oratory — Anecdote — "Twi- 
light Zone" — His  Lesson  to  Spell-Binders. 

Chapter  XII— Syllables  irom  the  Silver  Tongue 163 

Estimate  of  Lincoln  as  Orator — Funeral  Oration — Bible  the  Only 
True  Guide — To  the  Flag — Mystery  of  the  Radish — Conversion — 
The  Dry  Triumverate — Woman  Suffrage — Education — Money — 
Illustration  of  the  Hog — Democracy — Philosophy  of  Defeat. 

Chapter  XIII— Anti-Imperialism 188 

Imperialism  the  Issue  of  1900— War  with  Spain— Offers  Services 
to  McKinley — Colonel  of  3d  Nebraska  Volunteers — Resigns  Com- 
mission After  Five  Months  Service — Declares  Position  on  Im- 
perialism— Bryan  and  Stevenson  Nominated — Whirlwind  Cam- 
paign— Utterances  on  the  Paramount  Issue — Political  Defeat — 
"Imperialism  Like  Heart  Disease;  Tariff  Just  a  Stomach  Ache." 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
Chapter  XIV— The  Commoner 196 

Founds  The  Commoner,  January,  1901 — Its  Advertising  Policy- 
Eight  Hour  Day  for  All  Employes — Annual  Picnic — "Bill"  Bryan 
Plays  Baseball — Memory  for  Names  and  Faces — Labor  Day 
Speech — Looks  and  Acts  Like  Great  Commoner — His  Reading — 
Farmers'  Club — Story  of  Johnny  Cole,  the  Conductor — Story  of 
Barry,  the  Coachman — Characteristics  That  Made  Him  the  Com- 
moner. 

Chapter  XV— Around  the  World .....205 

Temporary  Withdrawal  from  Active  Politics — Not  a  Candidate 
in  1904 — Alton  B.  Parker  runs  against  Roosevelt — "The  Peerless 
Leader"— Starts  Trip,  September  21, 1905— Japan  and  China— "The 
White  Man's  Burden" — Phillipines — India — Palestine — Turkey — 
The  Capitals  of  Europe — Entertained  by  Princes — Return  to 
America — Triumphant  Reception. 

Chapter  XVI— The  Fairview  Farmer 217 

Moves  to  Fairview,  Oct.  1,  1902 — First  Five  Acres — Library — 
Curios — Billiard-room — Hat  Collection — Basement  Workshop — 
Advantages  of  Farming — His  Clothes — The  "Bryan"  Tie — His 
Eating — "Chicken  With  Plenty  of  Gravy" — Japanese  Foster-son — 
Qualifications  for  President — Philanthropy — Chicago  Man  Who 
Buys  Bryan's  Half-Dollar. 

Chapter  XVII— Mary  Baird  Bryan 225 

Bryan's  Ideal  of  Marriage — His  "First  Lady  of  the  Land" — Why 
Mrs.  Bryan  Studied  Law — His  Political  Secretary — Studies  Ger- 
man— Stands  Strenuous  Campaign  Trip  Well — Author — Mother 
and  Housekeeper — Woman's  Club  Work — The  Family. 

Chapter  XVIII— Conventions  oi  1904  and  1908 232 

St.  Louis  Convention — Seconds  Nomination  of  Senator  Cockrell — 
"I  Have  Kept  the  Faith" — Denver  Convention — Monopolies — 
Dining-room  Anecdote — Salem — Chicago  Speech — Election  Eve — 
Speech  to  Neighbors — Election  Returns — Taft  Wins,  Bryan  De- 
feated. 

Chapter  XIX— Faith  and  Religion 244 

His  Favorite  Verse — Progressive  in  Politics,. Fundamentalist  in 
Religion — Joins  Presbyterian  Church,  Though  Parents  Are  Bap- 
tists— Attends  Methodist  Church  at  Normal,  Nebraska — Views  on 
Denominationalism — Conspicuous  Part  in  General  Assemblies  of 
Presbyterian  Church — D.  L.  Moody — Religious  Customs — Advice 
to  High  School  Students — America's  Faults — Belief  in  Foreign 
Missionaries — Passionate  Belief  in  Bible — Bible  By  His  Side  at 
Death. 


WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 
Chapter  XX— "The  Prince  ol  Peace" 255 

Rather  Talk  on  Religion  than  Politics — This  His  Most  Famous 
Lecture — Heard  by  Millions  Throughout  the  Nation— Stand 
on  Evolution — Plausibility  of  Miracles — The  Watermelon  Illus- 
tration— Why  Christ  is  Truly  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

Chapter  XXI— Conventions  of  1912  and  1916 265 

Wants  "True  Democrat" — Resolution  Against  Wall  Street  Startles 
Convention — Withdraws  Second  Clause  of  It — It  Passes — Mrs. 
Taft  in  Gallery — Changes  from  Clark  to  Wilson — Wilson  Wins — 
Bryan  Declines  Vice-Presidency  in  "Valedictory" — 1916  Conven- 
tion— Hides  in  Improvised  Chicken  Coop — Suspend  Rules  to 
Permit  Him  to  Talk — Praises  Wilson — Assails  Those  Advocating 
Intervention  in  Mexico — "Power  of  Christ"  Speech. 

Chapter  XXII— Secretary  of  State 279 

Serves  At  Difficult  Period — Wilson  and  Bryan  Not  Always  in 
Agreement — The  Thirty  Treaties — "Nothing  Is  Final  Between 
Friends" — "They  Shall  Beat  Their  Swords  Into  Plowshares" — 
"A  Message  from  Bethlehem" — Controversy  with  Japan — Mexican 
Trouble — Grape  Juice — Reply  to  Criticism  of  His  Lecturing — 
Friction  with  the  President. 

Chapter  XXIII— Resignation  from  the  Cabinet. ...290 

Disagreement  with  Wilson  Over  Attitude  Toward  Germany — Signs 
First  Lusitania  Note — Cannot  Sign  Second — Conference  with  the 
President — Resigns — Text  of  Letter  and  Wilson's  Reply — Pleads 
for  World  Friendship — Criticism  of  His  Action — Break  with  Wil- 
son Never  Healed. 

Chapter  XXIV— Patriotism  and  Pacifism 299 

Bryan's  Stand  Before  and  After  War  Is  Declared — Early  Views 
on  Peace  in  General — Thousands  Cheer  Him  at  Madison  Square 
Garden — Statement  Explaining  His  Criticisms  of  President  Wil- 
son's Preparedness  Policy — London  Peace  Congress  Speech,  1916 
— War — Bryan's  Offer  of  Service — Commoner's  Editorial — Chi- 
cago Chautauqua  Meeting,  a  Pro-War  Address — Pendulum  Swings 
Again  After  War — League  of  Nations  Clash  with  Wilson — Patriot 
Higher  Than  a  Partisan. 

Chapter  XXV— The  Reforms 311 

Political  Prophet,  if  Unsuccessful  Candidate — Republicans  "Stole 
His  Clothes"  Charge — Prohibition — Grape  Juice — "Don't  Bury 
Democratic  Party  in  Drunkard's  Grave" — Prohibition  and  the 
War — Woman  Suffrage — Popular  Election  of  Senators — Income 
Tax  Amendment — Eight  Hour  Day — Government  by  Injunction — 
Publicity  of  Campaign  Contributions — Establishment  of  Depart- 
ment of  Labor. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
Chapter  XXVI— Conventions  of  1920  and  1924S25 

Bryan's  Power  Declines — Breaks  with  Wilson  Over  League — 
Jackson  Day  Dinner  Speech — Prohibition  Issue — Dry  Plan  De- 
feated— "My  Heart  Is  in  the  Grave  with  Our  Cause" — Klan  Issue 
in  1924 — "Daybreak  Prayer" — Speech  Supporting  McAdoo — "Oil" 
— His  Man  Defeated — Back  to  Miami. 

Chapter  XXVII— "Faith  of  Our  Fathers" 346 

Defense  of  the  Bible  and  Tennessee  Anti-Evolution  Law — Arrival 
In  Dayton — Plans  Scopes  Prosecution — Champion  of  Tennessee 
Folk — In  Court — Speech  Against  Admission  of  the  Defense  Scien- 
tific Testimony. 

Chapter  XXVIII— The  Last  Battle 363 

Bryan  against  Darrow — On  the  Witness  Stand — Defends  Revealed 
Religion — Jonah  and  the  Whale — The  Story  of  the  Creation — Eve 
and  the  Temptation — How  the  Serpent  Traveled. 

Chapter  XXIX— He  Lay  Down  to  Sleep 379 

Sunday  afternoon,  July  26,  1925— Grief  of  Mrs.  Bryan— All  Day- 
ton, the  Nation,  Mourns — Pilgrimage  from  the  Hills — Memorial 
Services — Sermon  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jones. 

Chapter  XXX— Life  After  Death 386 

The  Posthumous  Speech — Right  of  Legislatures  to  control  the 
Schools — The  Menace  of  the  Evolution  Theory — Darwin  as  an 
Example — Darrow's  Defense  of  Leopold  and  Loeb  Used  Against 
Him — World  Motivated  by  Hate,  not  Love,  if  Evolution  Tri- 
umphs— "Faith  of  Our  Fathers." 

Chapter  XXXI— Well  Done,  Faithful  Servant 408 

Official  Announcement  of  Bryan's  Death — President  Coolidge's 
Tribute — Clarence  Darrow — Vice-President  Dawes — William  H. 
Taft— John  W.  Davis— The  Rev.  John  Roach  Stratton— William 
C.  Redfield — Germany — Plans  to  Lead  Trip  to  Holy  Land 
Disclosed. 

Chapter  XXXII— Earth  to  Earth.. 414 

From  Dayton  to  Washington— The  New  York  Avenue  Presby- 
terian Church — Lying  in  State — Guard  of  Honor — Throngs  Pass 
the  Bier — Flowers  and  Rain — The  Pallbearers — "One  Sweetly 
Solemn  Thought" — Kelso  Rice,  Policeman — "I  Am  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life" — Twenty-third  and  Nineteenth  Psalms — I  Co- 
rinthians: 15 — John:  14 — Dr.  Sizoo's  Address — Arlington — Taps — 
"In  Return,  He  Loved  You  With  Tender  Affection." 


Hast  Will  anb  ^Testament 

of  William  Sftrminqtl  ^Brpan 


"In  the  name  of  God,  farewell. 

"Trusting  for  my  salvation  to  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
my  Lord  and  Redeemer,  and  relying  on  His  promise  for  my 
hope  of  resurrection,  I  consign  my  body  to  the  dust  and 
commend  my  spirit  to  the  God  who  gave  it. 

"I,  William  Jennings  Bryan,  a  citizen  of  Dade  county, 
Florida,  being  of  sound  mind  and  memory,  but  conscious  of 
the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  desiring  to  make  just  disposition 
of  the  worldly  goods  with  which  an  indulgent  Heavenly 
Father  has  seen  fit  to  bless  me,  do  make,  publish,  and  declare 
this  my  last  will  and  testament,  hereby  revoking  and  annulling 
all  former  wills  by  me  made. 

"First:  I  desire  that  all  my  just  debts  and  funeral  expenses 
shall  be  fully  paid  and  satisfied,  including  the  use  of  such  sum 
as  my  wife  and  children  may  deem  proper  for  the  purchase  of 
a  monument  to  mark  my  grave. 

"Second:  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  wife,  Mary 
Baird  Bryan,  my  congenial  comrade  and  companion  and  my 
faithful  helpmate  for  more  than  forty  years,  all  my  household 
goods,  jewelry,  plate,  library,  automobile,  etc.,  to  use,  dis- 
tribute, or  sell,  according  to  her  pleasure.  I  trust  her  to  make 
such  gifts  to,  or  division  among,  our  children,  children-in-law, 
grand-children,  relatives,  and  friends  as  we  would  make 
together  if  we  joined  in  the  distribution. 

"Third:  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  said  wife  a  life  estate 
in  our  home,  Marymont,  in  Cocoanut  Grove,  Florida,  and  I 
hereby  authorize  and  direct  the  expenditure  from  my  estate  of 
such  sums  as  may  be  necessary  to  pay  taxes  on  said  home,  and 


keep  it  in  repair.  I  hereby  authorize  my  said  wife  to  occupy, 
rent,  or  sell,  said  home  according  to  her  pleasure.  If  the 
house  is  rented  the  taxes  and  repairs  shall  be  paid  out  of  the 
rent.  When  the  house  is  sold  the  proceeds  shall  be  turned 
into  the  general  fund  of  my  estate. 

"Fourth:  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  said  wife  one-third 
of  all  the  property,  real,  personal,  and  mixed,  which  I  possess 
at  the  time  of  my  death. 

"Fifth:  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  children,  Ruth 
Bryan  Owen,  W.  J.  Bryan,  Jr.,  and  Grace  Bryan  Hargraves, 
one-fourth  each  of  all  the  proceeds  of  my  estate  remaining 
after  the  payment  of  the  bequest  to  my  said  wife  and  other 
bequests  and  expenses,  but  said  bequests  are  made  subject  to 
the  following  provision — viz:  if  any  child  resort  to  the  courts 
to  break  the  provision  of  this  will,  the  bequest  to  such  child 
will  be  revoked  by  said  act  and  said  child's  portion  will  go 
into  my  estate  to  be  divided  among  the  other  legatees.  One- 
half  of  each  child's  portion  shall  be  set  apart  for  it  as  soon  as 
distribution  can  be  made;  the  other  half  shall  be  available  for 
the  children  respectively  when  my  said  wife  dies.  The  second 
half  held  until  my  said  wife's  death  shall  be  kept  in  the  hands 
of  my  executors  and  invested  in  bonds  of  the  United  States 
government,  state  governments,  city  governments,  and  school 
districts. 

"Sixth:  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  each  of  my  beloved 
grand-children  and  great-grandchildren  now  living  or  that 
may  be  born  before  the  final  distribution  of  my  estate,  the 
sum  of  $2,000,  said  sum  to  be  used  for  the  education  of  the 
child,  or,  if  not  needed  for  that,  paid  to  the  child  when  said 
child  is  of  age,  unless  the  parent  desires  it  paid  to  the  child  at 
an  earlier  date,  my  wife  to  decide  as  to  John's  needs  in  the 
payment  of  this  sum  to  him. 

"Seventh:  I  hereby  bequeath  to  my  said  wife  and  my  said 
children,  Ruth,  William  and  Grace,  all  my  copyrights,  manu- 
script letters,  et  cetera,  and  I  hereby  authorize  them  to  pre- 
pare and  publish  my  official  biography,  with  a  full  sketch  of 


my  wife's  life  and  details  as  to  the  important  aid  she  has  ren- 
dered me  in  all  my  work,  and  such  other  volumes  of  life  and 
letters  as  they  may  deem  wise.  They  shall  share  equally  in  all 
the  profits  and  royalties  derived  from  the  books  they  publish. 

"Eighth:  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  sister,  Frances 
Bryan  Baird,  the  house  in  East  Lincoln  (near  Fairview),  Neb., 
where  she  now  lives,  together  with  the  lot  on  which  it  stands 
with  a  frontage  of  seventy-five  feet  unless  a  different  frontage 
is  agreed  upon  before  I  die,  to  hold,  use  or  rent,  with  re- 
mainder over  in  fee  simple  to  her  three  children,  Laura, 
Frank  and  Will.  My  sister  is  to  pay  taxes  on  it  while  she 
occupies  it  or  rents  it. 

"I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  brother  and  sister, 
Charles  W.  Bryan  and  Mary  Bryan  Allen,  #2,000  each.  My 
wife  will,  in  the  distribution  of  souvenirs,  remember  Essie,  my 
brother's  wife;  Jim  Baird,  sister  Fannie's  husband;  T.  S.  Allen, 
Sister  Mary's  husband;  and  Roy  Spangler,  Laura's  husband; 
A.  R.  Talbot,  my  former  law  partner,  and  W.  F.  Schwind,  my 
companion  in  the  army.  They  have  all  been  very  dear  friends. 
I  appreciate  their  affection  and  companionship  with  them. 

"Ninth:  I  give  and  bequeath  #1,000  each  to  the  First 
Presbyterian  church  of  Miami  and  Grove  Temple  of  Cocoa- 
nut  Grove,  the  two  churches  with  which  I  am  now  connected, 
and  #500  each  to  the  following  churches  with  which  I  have 
been  connected — namely:  The  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
church  of  Salem,  111.;  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Jack- 
sonville, 111.;  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Lincoln,  Neb.; 
the  Westminster  Presbyterian  church  of  Lincoln,  Neb.;  the 
Normal  Methodist  church  near  my  former  Nebraska  home, 
Fairview;  the  Lincoln,  Neb.,  Y.  M.  C.  A.;  the  Miami,  Fla., 
Y.  M.  C.  A.;  the  Bryan  Bennett  library,  Salem,  111.;  the  public 
library,  Lincoln,  Neb.;  the  public  library  of  the  Woman's 
club,  Miami;  the  public  library  of  Cocoanut  Grove,  and  #250 
each  to  Sigma  Pi  society,  Illinois  college,  Jacksonville,  of 
which  I  was  a  member;  Philosophian  society,  McKendree  col- 
lege, Lebanon,  111.,  of  which  my  father  was  a  member,  and 


the  Baptist  church  at  Salem,  111.,  of  which  my  parents  were 
members. 

"Tenth:  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  private  secretary  (at 
the  time  of  my  death)  a  sum  to  be  calculated  at  $100  for  each 
year  or  part  of  a  year  he  has  been  with  me,  and  to  the  man 
who  is  taking  care  of  my  wife  at  the  time  of  my  death — driv- 
ing car  and  carrying  her — a  sum  calculated  in  the  same  way. 
To  my  gardener  and  each  one  of  the  female  help  a  sum  calcu- 
lated at  #50  for  each  year  or  part  of  year. 

"Eleventh:  I  have  saved  for  the  last  my  bequest  for  re- 
ligious education.  While  I  have  devoted  a  large  part  of  my 
time  to  the  study  and  discussion  of  political  questions  and 
have  found  an  abundant  reward  in  the  reforms  adopted  with 
my  humble  aid,  I  feel  more  interested  in  religion  than  in 
politics,  because  religion  is  the  only  influence  that  can  control 
the  heart,  out  of  which  are  the  issues  of  life. 

"Next  to  religion  I  am  most  interested  in  education,  be- 
cause education  can  and  should  increase  one's  capacity  for 
service.  But  education  will  not  be  a  benefit  to  its  possessor 
and  a  blessing  to  society  unless  it  is  wisely  used.  I  am  very 
anxious  that  each  intellectual  ship  shall  be  equipped  with  a 
moral  rudder  sufficient  to  control  its  course  on  life's  stormy 
sea.  My  chief  interest  is,  therefore,  in  Christian  education — 
the  entwining  of  the  spiritual  with  the  intellectual.  I  had 
hoped  to  aid  in  the  establishing  of  an  academy  that  would  em- 
body my  idea  and  serve  as  a  model.  Fearing  that  I  shall  not 
be  able  to  carry  out  this  plan  during  the  years  that  remain,  I 
am  setting  aside  a  fund  equal  to  each  child's  share  in  my 
estate. 

"After  taking  out  the  bequest  to  my  wife  and  other  be- 
quests I  desire  to  divide  the  remainder  in  four  equal  parts. 
One  part,  as  I  have  provided  above,  shall  go  to  each  of  my 
three  children,  the  fourth  part,  less  #50,000,  will  be  set  apart 
for  Christian  education.  As  I  have  recently  given  our 
Nebraska  home,  known  as  Fairview,  to  the  Methodist  church 


for  a  hospital,  I  feel  that  its  value,  conservatively  estimated  at 
#50,000,  should  be  deducted  from  the  one-fourth  set  apart 
for  Christian  education  and  divided  equally  between  my  three 
children  and  my  wife. 

"With  the  amount  left  for  this  purpose — I  estimate  it  at 
about  #50,000 — #100,000  less  the  #50,000  deduction  above 
mentioned — I  would  like  to  have  it  used  to  establish  an  acade- 
my for  boys,  which  shall  be  under  the  control  of  some  unit  of 
government,  of  some  Evangelical  church,  Presbyterian  pre- 
ferred but  not  absolutely  necessary,  so  that  it  can  be  con- 
trolled by  a  recognized  religious  organization.  I  would  like 
to  have  it  cover  the  junior  and  senior  years  of  the  high  school 
and  the  freshman  and  sophomore  years  of  the  college — these 
being  the  years  when  the  student  most  needs  religious  super- 
vision. 

"I  would  like  special  attention  given  to  citizenship  and 
applied  Christianity  so  that  the  graduates  may  be  prepared  for 
leadership  in  both  state  and  church.  It  should  not  be  con- 
ducted for  profit;  board  should  be  furnished  students  at  actual 
cost,  tuition  should  be  as  low  as  possible,  room  rent  should 
be  same  for  all  rooms  so  as  to  discourage  classification  accord- 
ing to  wealth.  Assignments  of  rooms  should  be  made  on 
basis  of  classes,  senior,  junior,  sophomore  and  freshman,  and 
in  classes  according  to  scholarship  where  possible,  and  by  lot 
until  scholarship  is  tested. 

"I  would  like  the  boys  to  wear  a  uniform  made  of  blue  and 
gray  to  symbolize  the  reunion  of  the  north  and  south.  If  it  is 
impossible  to  establish  such  an  academy  then  the  trustees  of 
this  fund  shall  distribute  it  among  boys'  schools,  selecting 
schools  as  nearly  like  the  one  described  above  as  possible, 
care  being  taken  to  see  that  the  money  is  given  only  to 
schools  that  are  firmly  committed  to  Orthodox  Christianity, 
including  the  making  of  man  by  separate  act  in  God's  image, 
the  Virgin  Birth  and  the  Bodily  Resurrection  of  the  Savior. 

"I  regard  supernatural  and  revealed  religion  as  given  in  the 
Bible  as  the  only  religion  that  exerts  a  controlling  influence 


on  our  lives.  If  this  money  is  divided  among  several  colleges, 
I  would  like  to  have  it  invested  and  the  income  loaned  to 
needy  students — not  over  one-half  his  annual  college  expenses, 
so  that  he  will  earn  the  other  half — and  when  collected  re- 
turned to  the  revolving  fund. 

"I  hereby  appoint  as  trustee  of  this  religious  fund  my 
beloved  wife,  my  son,  my  two  daughters,  my  brother,  C.  W. 
Bryan;  my  brother-in-law,  T.  S.  Allen;  my  former  law  part- 
ner, A.  R.  Talbot  and  the  pastors  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
church  of  Miami  and  Grove  Temple  of  Cocoanut  Grove — the 
pastors,  to  serve  while  pastors.  If  any  of  the  life  trustees  die 
their  places  shall  be  filled  by  the  survivors,  preference  being 
given  to  my  personal  friends  who  are  also  sympathetic  in 
matters  of  religion. 

"It  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal, 
this  fifth  day  of  July  (1925),  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty- 
five,  at  Marymont,  Cocoanut  Grove,  Fla. 

"WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN." 

"Signed,  published,  and  declared  by  said  testator  as  his  last 
will  and  testament  in  the  presence  of  us,  who  at  his  request 
and  in  his  presence  and  in  the  presence  of  each  other,  have 
hereunto  subscribed  our  names  as  witnesses. 

"Signed  W.  E.  Thompson  (Seal),  Cocoanut  Grove. 

"William  H.  McCartney  (Seal),  Cocoanut  Grove." 


CHAPTER  I 


Bryan  and  His  Greatness 

Leader  in  Politics,  Social  Reform,  and  Religion — Likened  to 
Henry  Clay — Courage,  Sincerity,  Ambitions,  Honesty — Fought  for 
Religion  and  High  Morals — Appealed  to  Heart,  Not  Intellect — 
Wilson  and  Roosevelt  Aristocrats;  Bryan,  the  Democrat — Friends 
and  Enemies — Greater  Than  the  Bosses — Lover  of  Peace,  Not  a 
Pacifist— Died  in  the  Battle  for  His  Faith. 

When  history  records  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  and 
the  opening  years  of  the  twentieth  centuries  in  the  United  States, 
and  lists  therein  the  great  men  who  have  helped  mould  the  fortunes 
of  their  nation,  she  will  fill  a  dramatic  chapter  with  the  career  of 
William  Jennings  Bryan. 

She  will  say  that  this  man,  whom  his  fellow  citizens  learned  to 
entitle  the  Great  Commoner,  was  a  leader  in  three  fundamental 
phases  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived — in  politics,  in  social  reform, 
and  in  religion.  Whatever  else  she  says,  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing  now;  for  it  is  too  soon  after  his  passing  to  forecast  how 
the  future  will  evaluate  his  words,  his  deeds,  and  the  mighty  re- 
actions he  evoked  among  his  people. 

Three  times  candidate  for  the  highest  office  in  the  power  of  his 
countrymen  to  give  him,  once  Secretary  of  State  during  the  crystalli- 
zation of  the  most  potent  crisis  in  America's  history,  esteemed  one 
of  the  most  eloquent  men  of  his  times,  prophet  of  great  social 
changes,  and  to  millions  of  his  fellow  men  the  champion  of  their 
religious  faith — surely  the  name  of  William  Jennings  Bryan  will 
be  writ  large. 

His  life  demonstrated  the  ends  to  which  immovable  moral  con- 
victions may  bring  a  courageous  man. 

Friends  were  fond  of  likening  him  to  Henry  Clay,  who  also  was 

27 


28  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

thrice  nominated  for  the  Presidency,  who  also  was  as  many  times 
defeated,  and  who,  like  Bryan,  was  once  Secretary  of  State.  The 
simile  is  apt  in  another  way,  for  the  proud  declaration  of  the 
famous  Whig  might  properly  have  come  from  the  lips  of  Bryan : 
"I  would  rather  be  right  than  be  President." 

So  closely  are  some  great  men  linked  with  national  events 
that  their  death  means  more  than  the  loss  of  an  individual 
leader.  It  means  the  placing  of  a  period  at  the  conclusion  of  a 
national  epoch.     Bryan  was  one  of  these  men. 

He  was  a  man  of  unwavering  purpose  and  unflinching  spirit. 
When  convinced  that  he  was  in  the  right  he  gave  ground  to  no 
assault.  He  was  sincere ;  no  man  who  was  not  sincere  could  have 
withstood  the  attacks  on  his  sincerity  which  were  directed  at  Bryan 
throughout  his  life.  He  was  ambitious  not  only  for  himself,  but 
for  the  causes  he  had  decided  were  right  and  beneficial  to  mankind. 
He  was  honest;  he  might  have  capitalized  his  power  over  people 
and  have  made  millions,  but  he  preferred  to  use  that  power  to  bring 
about  results  that  he  believed  would  aid  the  nation. 

Throughout  his  career,  religion  and  high  morals  were  the  mo- 
tivating forces  behind  his  actions.  His  was  the  fight  on  the  side 
of  his  God  and  the  God  of  millions  of  others,  against  the  devil 
and  the  powers  of  darkness.  The  spirit  of  the  crusader  burned 
always  fiercely  within  him. 

Bryan  was  not  a  highly  intellectual  man.  He  led  his  people 
not  by  an  appeal  to  their  intellects  but  by  an  appeal  to  their  hearts. 
Of  himself,  the  progress  of  events  has  shown  that  intellectually  he 
was  often  wrong;  but  his  heart  was  always  right.  No  other  man 
in  generations  has  had  the  power  to  sway  an  audience  as  had 
Bryan ;  it  was  not  his  argument  that  did  it.  It  was  not  his  logic, 
but  his  emotional  appeal. 

Into  the  solution  of  political  and  economic  problems  Bryan  car- 
ried both  his  unchangeable  moral  beliefs  and  his  emotional  reactions. 


BRYAN  AND  HIS  GREATNESS  29 

Of  every  cause  he  made  a  moral  issue;  in  every  issue  he  found 
his  position  emotionally  rather  than  logically.  It  was  this  disposition 
which  found  him,  at  the  settlement  of  the  question,  morally  always 
right,  politically  and  economically  sometimes  wrong. 

In  thinking  of  Bryan,  the  memory  that  comes  uppermost  con- 
cerning his  political  career  is  that  of  the  free  silver  issue  in  1896. 
Time  has  shown  he  was  wrong  there,  though  he  persuaded  6,500,000 
people  that  he  was  right.  But  how  many  realize  what  a  number  of 
other  measures  advocated  by  the  Commoner  have  been  accepted? 
Prohibition,  woman  suffrage,  the  income  tax,  the  direct  election  of 
senators,  all  were  issues  on  which  he  was  taking  definite  stands 
years  ago.  As  it  was  always  the  other  candidate  who  won  the 
Presidency,  so  it  was  always  someone  else  who  put  these  measures 
over.    Bryan  never  received  his  fair  share  of  credit. 

Bryan  must  occupy  a  place  with  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Wood- 
row  Wilson  in  the  annals  of  the  period  in  which  this  triumvirate 
of  great  men  lived.  Totally  unlike  in  so  many  ways,  these  three 
men  had  qualities  in  common.  Objectively,  no  other  three  have  left 
such  a  deep  mark  on  the  political  history  of  their  day,  as  did  these 
men.  All  three  won  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  an  immense  fol- 
lowing; all  three,  with  religious  zeal,  found  in  spiritual  rather  than 
worldly  progress  the  measurement  of  a  civilization;  all  three  had 
the  courage  to  do  battle  for  the  principles  in  which  they  believed. 

Roosevelt  and  Wilson  attained  the  highest  office  in  the  land. 
Bryan  fell  short  of  winning  this  supreme  honor.  It  is  a  tribute  to 
his  intrinsic  worth  that  in  his  defeat  he  found  scarcely  a  diminution 
of  his  leadership  of  a  great  section  of  the  American  people.  If  old 
followers  of  one  campaign  deserted  after  a  battle  lost,  new  ones 
came  and  filled  the  ranks. 

In  one  thing  Bryan  differed  fundamentally  from  his  famous 
contemporaries.  They  were  essentially  aristocrats.  Bryan  was,  at 
heart  as  in  political  name,  a  democrat.    Instinctively  he  understood 


30  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

the  common  people.    He  felt  as  they  felt,  and  from  his  silver  tongue 
fell  the  words  that  expressed  to  them  their  unphrased  sentiments. 

Few  men  in  American  public  life  have  been  so  hated  and  de- 
spised, yet  at  that  same  time  so  beloved  and  esteemed,  as  William 
Jennings  Bryan.  Himself,  a  man  who  could  conceive  of  no  com- 
promise between  his  beliefs  and  those  of  another  opposing  them, 
he  inspired  no  half  way  reaction  in  those  with  whom  he  or  his 
ideas  came  in  contact.  Bryan  undoubtedly  had  more  warm  friends 
and  more  bitter  enemies  than  any  other  man  of  his  time.  It  is  to 
be  remembered  to  his  credit  that  he  was  heedless  of  the  counsels 
of  the  one  or  the  invectives  of  the  other  if  they  meant  changing 
in  the  slightest  the  path  of  what  he  believed  the  right  thing  to  do. 

Those  who  did  not  idolize  him  regarded  him  as  a  plague.  They 
hated  him  because  he  smashed  party  totem  poles  and  raised  up  in 
their  stead  issues  that  caught  the  heart  of  the  people  even  though 
they  did  not  always  stand  the  test  of  thoughtful  analysis.  Bryan  dis- 
mayed his  enemies,  but  his  friends  always  knew  where  to  find  him. 

Political  bosses  with  their  backroom  conferences,  the  political 
pilots  who  cared  nothing  for  the  well-being  of  their  ship  if  they 
could  safely  get  to  shore,  envied  him  and  feared  him.  They  envied 
him  because  he  could  dispense  with  political  intrigue,  go  over  the 
heads  of  bosses,  and,  in  defiance  of  tradition,  make  his  appeal  to 
the  people  themselves  in  open  forum.  They  feared  him  because 
of  the  popular  tides  that  followed  those  appeals. 

Bryan  was  a  lover  of  peace  but  he  was  not,  in  the  commonly 
understood  sense  of  the  word,  a  pacifist.  He  believed  war  was  un- 
christian and  a  crime  upon  the  face  of  humanity;  he  hated  war. 
But  he  wore  the  uniform  of  his  country  in  the  war  with  Spain. 
When  the  World  War  came  on  and  was  threatening  to  engulf  the 
United  States,  he  opposed  the  idea  of  conflict  with  all  the  powers 
at  his  command.  When  he  realized  that  Wilson's  policy,  which 
differed  radically  from  his  own,  would  eventually  lead  to  the  en- 


BRYAN  AND  HIS  GREATNESS  31 

tanglement  of  the  United  States  in  the  war,  he  quit  the  highest 
office  he  had  ever  held  rather  than  compromise  his  ideals.  Yet 
when  war  was  declared,  he  offered  to  serve  as  a  private  soldier. 
For  all  his  pacifistic  utterances,  no  one  rightfully  accused  him  ever 
of  wearing  the  white  feather. 

In  the  last  great  phase  of  his  career,  standing  in  the  little  Ten- 
nessee town  of  Dayton,  upright  against  the  onslaughts  of  those 
whom  he  believed  to  be  undermining  the  faith  of  the  nation,  Bryan 
rose  to  his  supreme  height.  Baring  to  the  taunts  of  the  un- 
believer the  faith  that  had  carried  him  through  life,  proclaiming 
publicly  the  simple  beliefs  that  had  steadied  him  through  the 
storms  of  his  career,  he  was  at  his  best.  Admitting  his  limita- 
tions, admitting  some  of  the  arguments  of  those  who  disagreed 
with  him,  he  was  a  valiant  figure. 

For  nearly  thirty  years  the  leader  and  dominant  figure  in  a  great 
political  party,  down  among  the  hills  of  the  Cumberlands  he 
achieved  an  even  greater  leadership.  Party  lines  were  swept 
aside ;  voting  qualifications  made  no  difference. 

He  died  there  as  he  would  have  liked  to  have  died  could  he  have 
chosen;  with  the  trumpets  of  battle  still  sounding;  with  the 
sword  of  a  righteous  cause  in  his  failing  hand,  and  with  the 
buckler  of  his  faith  about  him. 

Surely  his  followers  will  carry  him  to  a  place  of  fame  on  the 
shield  of  his  integrity. 


CHAPTER   II 


In  the  Beginning 


Ancestry — Judge  Silas  L.  Bryan,  the  Father — Mariah  Elizabeth 
Jennings  Bryan,  the  Mother — Political  and  Religious  Heritage — 
Born  in  Salem,  March  19,  1860 — "Lawyer  just  like  father" — 
Father's  Campaign  Fires  Political  Ambitions — Prepares  for  the 
Academy. 

Love  of  religion,  love  of  politics  and  love  of  the  common 
man  :  These  three  dominant  characteristics  of  Bryan,  throughout 
the  sixty-five  vigorous  years  of  his  life,  can  all  be  traced  with  a 
nicety  of  parallel  to  those  sturdy  pioneer  folks  who  didn't  know 
the  meaning  of  the  word  "compromise" — folks  whom  the  world 
calls  Bryan's  "ancestors,"  but  whom  scientists  might  term 
Bryan's  "inheritance." 

William  Jennings  Bryan,  statistics  tell  us,  was  born  on  the 
19th  of  March  in  the  year  1860,  in  a  tiny  house  of  perhaps  five 
or  six  rooms,  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town  of  Salem,  Illinois. 
But  the  forces  that  went  into  that  mighty  personality,  had  begun 
years  and  years  before. 

Let  us,  therefore,  go  back  a  bit. 

Bryan's  father  traced  the  family  back  to  Ireland.  Bryan, 
himself,  in  jestful  platform  speech,  spoke  often  of  that  second 
cousin  of  a  name,  "O'Brien."  We  have  the  name,  too,  weaving 
its  way  about  English  and  Welsh  history. 

It  is  a  good  hundred  years  ago  or  more  that  we  first  hear  of 
that  name  of  Bryan,  in  relation  to  William  Jennings,  and  it  is 
in  possession  of  one  William  Bryan,  a  hardy  Blue  Ridge  moun- 
taineer. Nothing  very  much  is  known  of  him,  save  that  he  had 
a  large  parcel  of  land  in  and  about  Sperryville,  Virginia,  and  that 
he  had  five  children. 

32 


IN  THE  BEGINNING  33 

William's  second  son,  John,  was  born  about  1790.  The 
family  sketch,  written  by  Silas  L.  Bryan,  father  of  William 
Jennings,  is  a  bit  vague  as  to  the  exact  date.  When  still  little 
more  than  a  lad,  John,  the  sketch  tells  us,  married  Nancy  Lillard. 
Here  again,  the  ancestry  quotient  for  the  Great  Commoner  was 
strenghtened.  For  Miss  Lillard  came  from  an  American  family 
which  even  then  was  ranked  as  "old." 

Presently  John  took  his  family  out  west.  Only  in  those  days 
the  term  didn't  mean  San  Francisco  or  the  Pacific  coast.  No, 
going  out  west,  while  it  was  considerable  of  an  adventure,  meant 
geographically,  simply  removing  to  that  region  which  is  now 
West  Virginia.  His  last  residence  was  Mount  Pleasant,  and 
there  he  died  in  1836.    His  wife  had  died  two  years  earlier. 

So  their  boy,  Silas,  and  now  we  are  getting  within  easy 
perspective  of  William  Jennings  Bryan,  went  still  further  west. 

Education  wasn't  handed  out  on  a  platter  by  any  manner 
of  means  in  those  days  of  abundant  hard  work.  But  Silas  was 
determined  to  obtain  an  education.  And  he  did.  When  he  had 
completed  the  public  school  course,  he  made  up  his  mind  he'd 
like  to  go  to  college.  He  went.  Sometimes  a  slim  purse  com- 
pelled him  to  drop  his  Latin  and  his  Greek  for  a  hoe  and  a 
plough.  Then  he  would  work  for  six  months  in  order  to  earn 
sufficient  money  to  enable  him  to  return  to  the  classroom. 

Later  in  his  course,  he  started  a  productive  circle.  He  would 
stop  and  teach  school  long  enough  to  earn  money  to  return  to 
college  and  learn  more  to  go  out  and  teach.  And  so  on.  In 
spite  of  these  intermittent  journeys  into  farm  field  and  country 
school,  Silas  Bryan  was  able  to  graduate  with  high  honors  from 
McKendree  College,  Lebanon,  Illinois,  in  the  spring  of  1849. 

But  that  wasn't  enough.    Silas  wished  to  become  a  lawyer. 

More  periods  of  school  teaching,  at  larger  schools  now,  and 
he  went  on  to  law  school.    And  finally,  one  fall  day,  this  young 


34  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

man  of  twenty-nine  had  his  ambition  realized.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Salem,  Illinois.  But  there  was  still  another  ambi- 
tion, as  yet  unfilled.    Silas  wanted  to  get  married. 

Some  thirty-two  years  later,  his  son,  William  Jennings,  was 
to  follow  in  his  father's  footsteps;  that  is,  was  to  become  a 
lawyer  and  a  benedict  almost  simultaneously.  Only  with  this 
difference.  Where  the  son  married  a  girl  of  approximately  his 
own  age,  a  girl  who  was  attending  a  female  seminary  near  the 
campus  of  his  own  college,  the  father  chose  a  former  pupil  of  his, 
a  girl  twelve  years  his  junior. 

In  later  life,  with  sprightly  vein  but  in  serious  tribute,  the 
older  Mr.  Bryan  often  said  how  glad  he  was  his  meager  treasury 
had  compelled  him  to  work  his  way  through  college.  For  that 
had  forced  him  to  teach  school,  and  in  teaching  school  he  met 
his  future  wife. 

So  it  was  on  the  4th  of  November,  1852,  when  the  paint  was 
still  fresh  on  his  lawyer's  shingle,  that  Silas  L.  Bryan  married 
Mariah  Elizabeth  Jennings. 

They  weren't  talking  much  about  eugenics  in  those  days. 
But  that  marriage  might  have  been  taken  as  a  good  example  of 
it.  For  Miss  Jennings  had  an  equipment  of  old  family  traditions 
and  pioneer  virtues,  of  good  common  sense,  moral  preoccupa- 
tion, and  of  an  appreciation  of  the  value  of  education,  as  well  as 
of  hard  work. 

The  Jennings  family  came  from  England,  but  just  when  it 
came  no  chronicler  has  ever  been  able  to  determine.  We  can,  how- 
ever, go  back,  authentically,  to  Mariah  Jenning's  grandfather,  one 
Israel  Jennings,  who  was  born  about  1774.  Originally  New  Eng- 
land colonists,  his  ancestors  had  braved  the  frontier,  and  Israel 
spent  his  youth  in  Mason  county,  Kentucky.  Married  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five  to  a  Mary  Waters,  the  couple  moved  to  Illinois 
and  raised  a  family  of  eight  children  at  Walnut  Hill. 


P.    &   A.    photo.  ©P.    &   A.    photo 

Bryan's  father  and  mother,  Judge  Silas  L.  Bryan  and  Mariah  Elizabeth 

Bryan. 


P.    &    A.    photo 

The  house  in  Salem,  111.,  where  Bryan  was  born,  March  19,  1860. 


,*r, 

P.    &    A.    photo. 


Bryan  at   the   age   of    11    (right),  with  his  brothers,  Robert,  deceased 
(left),   and    Charles    (center)    aged   4. 


P.    &    A.    photo. 

When    the    Commoner    was    24    years    old;    at    his    left,    his    brother, 
Charles  W.  Bryan,  former  governor  of  Nebraska,  then  17. 


IN  THE  BEGINNING  37 

One  of  the  eight,  Charles  Waters,  is  the  one  who  concerns 
us.  He  married  Maria  Woods  Davidson,  December  14,  1826, 
and  built  a  home  for  his  bride  on  the  estate  adjoining  his  father's 
farm  in  Walnut  Hill.  And  like  the  father,  the  son  had  eight 
children.  And,  again,  it  is  one  of  the  eight  who  stands  out  to 
fame. 

That  one,  of  course,  is  Mariah  Elizabeth  Jennings,  who  was 
born  at  Walnut  Hill,  May  24,  1834.  She  went  to  the  public 
schools  in  the  neighborhood,  did  her  lessons  and  said  "good 
morning"  and  "good  evening"  to  the  teacher. 

But  one  day  came  a  new  teacher,  an  earnest,  studious  youth 
with  a  passion  for  more  education,  and  a  pleasant  teaching 
manner.  He  was  Silas  L.  Bryan,  the  young  fellow  from  over 
Salem  way.  There  was  no  foolishness  about  him,  and  the 
youngsters  had  to  work  hard  at  their  lessons.  But  what  of  that, 
when  the  teacher  made  them  so  vivid  with  living  facts. 

And  what  of  the  fact  that  the  young  pedagogue  was  twelve 
years  older  than  one  of  his  students.  They  formed  a  friendship 
that  was  real  and  firm.  First  it  was  based  on  English  composi- 
tion and  geography.  Later  it  grew  more  personal.  And  just 
as  soon  as  he  was  made  an  attorney,  her  former  teacher  claimed 
Miss  Jennings  for  his  bride. 

Miss  Jennings  had  been  brought  up  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  the  church  of  her  parents.  When  quite  a  young 
girl  she  had  elected  to  join  that  church,  and  she  remained  a 
member  until  about  1877,  when  she  joined  the  Baptist  church 
of  Salem.  Her  husband  had  been  brought  up  a  Baptist,  the 
faith  of  his  fathers,  and  was  a  consistently  devout  man. 

Here  we  see,  shaping  themselves  with  definiteness,  some  of 
those  forces  that  were  going  to  join  themselves  together  so  po- 
tently in  the  son,  William  Jennings.  As  to  religion,  the  Silas 
Bryans   observed   the   Sabbath   strictly.     They   read   the   Bible 


38  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

much.    Above  everything,  they  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer. 

Three  times  a  day  Silas  Bryan  prayed.  And  nothing  was 
permitted  to  interfere  with  this  rite.  When  he  became  a  judge, 
if  court  were  in  session  at  the  noon  hour,  he  would  bow  his  head, 
where  he  sat  on  the  bench,  and  offer  up  his  simple  supplication. 

Then  there  was  that  aptitude  for  politics  in  the  elder  Bryan, 
a  characteristic  that  was  to  become  one  of  the  focal  points  of 
the  son's  life. 

For  the  year  1852  in  which  Silas,  the  young  lawyer,  married 
Miss  Jennings,  also  saw  him  elected  to  the  state  senate.  He 
served  four  terms.  And  in  1860,  the  year  of  William  Jennings' 
birth,  the  father  was  elected  to  the  circuit  bench.  For  twelve 
years  he  held  that  position. 

The  Bryans  had  nine  children  born  to  them,  four  of  whom 
died  in  infancy.  William  Jennings  was  their  fourth.  The  chil- 
dren who  lived  to  grow  up  with  him  were  his  brother,  Charles, 
Democratic  candidate  for  Vice-President  in  1924;  and  his  sisters, 
Mary,  Nannie  and  Fanny. 

Of  their  heritage,  Mrs.  William  Jennings  Bryan,  in  her  sketch 
of  her  husband's  life,  has  this  to  say : 

"The  Bryan,  Lillard,  Jennings  and  Davidson  families  all  be- 
longed to  the  middle  classes.  They  were  industrious,  law- 
abiding,  God-fearing  people.  No  member  of  the  family  ever 
became  very  rich,  and  none  was  ever  abjectly  poor.  Farming 
has  been  the  occupation  of  the  majority,  while  others  have  fol- 
lowed the  legal  and  medical  professions  and  mercantile  pursuits." 

Into  the  pattern  of  this  heritage  the  Great  Commoner  fitted 
with  no  rough  edges.  Only,  it  wasn't  long  before  his  own  indi- 
viduality, plus  that  heritage,  began  to  shine  out  through  the  entire 
mosaic. 

Politics  from  his  father;  comradship,  diligence,  discipline 
from  his  mother;  religion  from  both;  and  the  fundamentals  of 


IN  THE  BEGINNING  39 

the  Great  Commoner  from  all  those  ancestors  who  had  gone 
before.  That  was  Bryan's  background,  and  it  projects  itself 
forcibly  into   Bryan's  foreground. 

It  is  quite  easy  and  ever  so  consistent,  then,  for  Bryan,  the 
little  boy,  to  have  had  two  mighty  ambitions  coming  upon  him  in 
fervent  sequence.  First,  he  wanted  to  be  a  minister.  Later,  a 
lawyer,  "like  father."  And  this  latter  was  the  permanent  actuat- 
ing ambition.  The  other  tapered  off,  if  indeed  it  can  be  called 
tapering  when  it  was  such  a  vital,  potent  thing  to  the  very  day  of 
his  death,  into  a  firm  conviction  which  he  used  as  a  yardstick 
to  judge  every  phase  of  life  and  all  human  relationships. 

They  tell  a  story  of  young  Bryan's  repartee  to  an  aunt  who 
urged  upon  him  that  first  ambition,  to  become  a  minister,  when 
ie  had  already  become  firmly  entrenched  in  the  desire  to  become 
a  lawyer. 

When  the  aunt  made  remonstrance,  Bryan,  who  had  joined 
the  Baptist  church  when  he  was  fourteen  and  had  been  a  con- 
stant reader  of  the  Bible,  turned  lawyer  for  the  moment  and 
rebutted  her  argument  by  a  Bible  text.    It  came  out  of  Proverbs : 

"To  do  justice  ...  is  more  acceptable  to  the  Lord  than 
sacrifice." 

Half  in  fun,  half  in  earnest,  the  boy  then  argued  from  this 
text  thiswise:  Sacrifice  is  the  emblem  of  the  function  of  the 
clergy;  the  doing  of  justice  is  the  prerogative  of  the  lawyer. 

And  history  records  no  answer  that  the  aunt  made. 

His  father  was  a  busy  circuit  judge,  and  his  mother  had 
much  to  do  with  the  raising  of  the  quintet  of  children.  When 
William  was  six  years  old,  there  were  so  many  youngsters 
tumbling  their  frisky  way  about  the  small  house  in  Salem  that 
Mr.  Bryan  bought  a  farm  out  a  mile  from  the  village.  There 
were  160  acres,  and  the  children  could  do  all  the  tumbling  they 
wanted,  provided  they  didn't  forget  their  responsibilities. 


40  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

For  their  parents  hadn't  forgotten  the  struggles  of  their 
pioneer  ancestors,  and  they  saw  to  it  that  their  children,  sev- 
erally and  collectively,  should  assume  a  reasonable  share  of  house 
and  farm  duties.  It  may  have  been  done  to  develop  their  char- 
acter, but  it  had  a  by-product  result  of  developing  their  phy- 
siques. Indeed,  it  was  this  early  outdoor  life  with  its  buoyant 
good  health  that  was  largely  responsible  for  the  stupendous 
energy  which  Bryan,  years  later,  manifested  during  campaigns 
which  fatigued  other  men. 

As  a  youngster  Bryan  was  well  knit,  "sturdy,  roundlimbed 
and  fond  of  play."  So  he  probably  enjoyed  his  duties.  They 
went  under  the  somewhat  stern  name  of  "chores." 

But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  would  be  considered  quite  a 
lark  these  days  for  a  city  lad.  For  example,  he  had  to  feed  the 
deer  which  were  kept  in  a  small  parked  enclosure  on  the  farm. 
Then  there  were  chickens  to  feed,  pigs  to  attend  to,  and  dogs 
to  care  for. 

And  for  favorite  recreation,  there  was  rabbit  hunting  with 
the  dogs. 

Up  until  the  time  he  was  ten  years  of  age,  young  Bryan 
learned  his  lessons  from  his  mother's  knee.  The  school  book 
lessons  were  interwoven  with  a  deep  religious  and  moral  inter- 
pretation that  dug  deep  into  the  lad's  consciousness  and  forever 
remained  there. 

When  the  boy  was  twelve  years  old  and  eager  for  knowledge 
of  history  and  politics,  his  father  was  nominated  for  Congress  on 
the  Democratic  ticket,  with  the  endorsement  of  the  Greenback 
party.  The  district  was  preponderantly  Republican,  but  Judge 
Bryan  made  a  fine  campaign.  And  when  the  votes  were  counted, 
in  spite  of  that  "hopeless"  Republican  handicap  with  which  he 
had  started  out,  he  was  defeated  by  General  James  Martin,  the 
Republican  candidate,  by  a  plurality  of  only  240. 


IN  THE  BEGINNING  41 

The  campaign  didn't  make  Judge  Bryan  a  congressman.  But 
it  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  making  his  son  a  congressman,  out 
in  Nebraska,  not  so  many  years  later.  For  young  William 
Jennings  followed  every  step  of  the  fight.  He  astonished  the 
schoolmates  at  the  Salem  public  school  with  his  knowledge  of 
every  ramification  of  the  contest.  It  crystallized  into  one  big, 
burning  ambition  all  those  vague  political  inclinations  which  he 
had  inherited,  and  which  had  been  developing  beneath  the  sur- 
face. But  they  were  awakened  now.  And  they  were  never  again 
put  to  sleep  until,  at  the  end  of  a  zestful  period  at  the  close  of  his 
life,  Mr.  Bryan  shifted  the  emphasis  to  an  impassioned  plea  for 
recognition  of  moral  values  in  all  departments  of  government. 

Defeated  for  Congress,  Judge  Bryan  wras  soon  made  a  member 
of  the  convention  of  1872.  It  was  this  convention  which  framed 
the  constitution  for  the  State  of  Illinois.  The  judge's  most  con- 
spicuous part  in  this  assemblage  was  played  in  connection  with 
the  resolution  which  he  introduced  in  behalf  of  the  convention, 
stating  that  all  offices,  legislative,  executive  and  judicial,  pro- 
vided for  by  the  new  constitution,  should  be  filled  by  popular 
election. 

Here  again,  we  find  a  foreshadowing  of  some  of  those  re- 
forms which  the  younger  Bryan  was  later  to  enunciate.  Jumping 
forward  a  decade  or  so,  we  find  William  Jennings  urging  the 
direct  primary  in  connection  with  the  nomination  and  election 
of  the  United  States  senators. 

Judge  Bryan,  always  a  pivot  figure  in  local  politics,  died 
March  30,  1880,  and  was  buried  in  the  old  cemetery  at  Salem. 
Sixteen  years  later,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1896,  just  about  the 
time  her  son  was  making  his  immortal  "Cross  of  Gold"  speech 
on  the  platform  of  the  Coliseum  at  the  Chicago  convention, 
Mariah  Elizabeth  Jennings  Bryan  died,  after  weeks  of  illness. 
They  buried  her  beside  her  husband,  in  that  Salem  cemetery. 


42  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

And  so  it  was,  that  the  fall  of  1875  saw  a  fifteen  year  old 
youth,  vigorous  of  body,  firm  in  religious  faith,  eager  for  political 
experience,  and  passionately  endowed  with  the  attributes  of  the 
Great  Commoner,  saw  this  lad  leave  his  mother  and  father  and 
the  Salem  farm,  and  journey  over  to  Jacksonville  to  enter 
Whipple  Academy. 

He  was  only  fifteen,  but  already  his  personality  had  silhouetted 
itself  so  definitely  against  that  background  which  we  have  just 
traced,  that  it  would  not  have  been  difficult  to  chart  out  at  least 
some  of  the  steps  that  the  lad  was  to  take  in  the  next  six  years' 
progress  through  academy  and  college. 


CHAPTER  III 


The  Student 

Whipple  Academy — Lives  at  Home  of  Dr.  Hiram  K.  Jones — 
Sigma  Pi  Literary  Society — Illinois  College — Period  of  Skepti- 
cism— College  Oratory — Wins  Prizes — Valedictorian — What  They 
Thought  of  Him. 

If  anything  were  needed  to  gather  up  all  the  loose  ends  of 
any  fugitive  ambitions  Bryan  may  have  had,  and  to  tie  them 
up  securely  into  a  definite  factor  in  his  life,  that  thing  was  his 
experience  at  Whipple  Academy  and  at  Illinois  College,  Jackson- 
ville, Illinois.  And  so  it  was  both  logical  and  fortunate  that 
this  youth  of  fifteen,  with  a  strong  political  heritage,  a  latent  pas- 
sion for  oratory,  and  a  growing  zeal  for  participation  in  politics, 
should  find  himself,  that  fall  day  in  1875,  matriculating  at 
Whipple  Academy. 

For  Jacksonville  had  long  been  a  political  center.  The  little 
boys  at  the  Academy  had  heard  politics  discussed  at  home  and 
now,  in  essay  and  debate,  they  began  to  take  a  fling  at  it  them- 
selves. The  young  men  at  the  college  fought  hot  fights  in 
their  societies  over  the  issues  that  men  throughout  the  country 
were  upholding  or  denouncing. 

It  was  during  these  six  years  at  school  that  Bryan  developed 
into  an  orator;  that  he  was  projected  along  his  career  of 
politician ;  that  a  brief  period  of  religious  skepticism  swung  the 
pendulum  back  even  further  in  the  way  of  deep  religious  con- 
viction ;  and  that  he  met  the  girl  whom  he  later  made  his  wife. 

So  it  was  an  eventful  sextette  of  years. 

When  he  left  his  home  on  the  farm  near  Salem  that  fall  day, 
young  Bryan  went  to  a  lovely,  rambling,  comfortable  house  on 
College  avenue,  Jacksonville,  the  home  of  Dr.  Hiram  K.  Jones, 

43 


44  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

a  cousin  of  Judge  Bryan  who  had  come  up  from  Culpepper  coun- 
ty, Virginia,  in  the  early  '30's.  For  the  next  six  years,  save  for 
an  occasional  vacation  spent  back  on  the  farm,  this  was  to  be 
William  Jennings'  home. 

It  was  more  than  home.  It  was  a  powerful  influence  in  the 
young  man's  life. 

A  student,  a  philosopher,  and  the  host  to  every  distinguished 
scholar  who  passed  through  the  town,  Dr.  Jones  was  a  splendid 
influence  on  the  lad  who  later  paid  him  deep  tribute,  when  he 
reckoned  his  influence  up  along  side  of  that  which  his  father,  the 
judge,  had  exerted  on  him. 

The  Jones'  library,  with  its  statuette  of  Plato,  and  its  volumes 
on  that  philosopher;  with  its  book  of  Carlyle,  of  Homer,  of 
Dante  and  of  Sophocles,  supplemented  the  lessons  which  Dr. 
Jones  gave  his  youthful  relative.  Informal  lessons  they  were, 
given  of  an  evening  round  the  library  table,  and  they  consisted 
in  reading  a  bit  from  this  philosopher;  talking  a  bit  of  personal 
reminiscences  with  distinguished  scholars;  and,  most  of  all,  in 
thinking  things  out  in  an  independent  and  un-selfconscious 
manner. 

When  he  entered  the  Academy  young  Bryan  had  a  slight 
difference  of  opinion  with  his  parents.  They  were  sure  that 
a  classical  course  was  best  for  their  son.  Their  son  wasn't  so 
sure,  especially  when  he  had  a  look  at  Greek  verbs  and  Latin 
adjectives.  But  the  parents  won  out,  and  a  classical  course 
it  was. 

Presently  Bryan  grew  to  like  Latin,  at  least  better  than 
Greek.  He  liked  mathematics  and  found  geometry  an  amusing 
brain  stunt.     Political  economy,  too,  attracted  him. 

Of  course  it  was.  oratory,  and  the  allied  branches  of  debate 
and  speech-writing  which  wooed  and  won  the  youth's  deepest 
affection.     But  his  career  in  this  was  not  like  the  career  of  the 


THE  STUDENT  45 

little  boy  in  the  story-book,  a  sky-rocket  affair,  with  spectacular 
success  shooting  out  on  all  sides.  Not  a  bit  of  it!  The  drama 
of  his  oratorical  success,  as  charted  out  in  those  six  years  on  the 
campus,  was  the  drama,  rather,  of  slow  success.  But  his  con- 
sistent up-curve  took  him,  at  graduation,  to  the  high  point  of 
class  valedictorian. 

Now  the  forum  in  which  he  won  his  oratorical  spurs  was 
Sigma  Pi. 

There  were  two  literary  societies  at  college,  Sigma  Pi  and 
Alpha  Phi.  Both  were  open,  apparently,  to  Academy  students, 
for  in  the  early  days  Bryan  was  elected  to  membership  in  Sigma 
Pi.  And  from  the  first  he  was  an  active  member.  While  other 
boys  were  busy  thinking  up  excuses  to  get  off  the  programs, 
Bryan,  early  reports  in  the  handwriting  of  the  secretary  inform 
us,  was  volunteering  his  services  on  this  and  that  occasion. 

The  man,  who  later  was  to  be  catapulted  to  instant  fame  by 
the  delivery  of  his  famous  "Cross  of  Gold"  speech,  is  first 
recorded  as  having  taken  part  in  a  debate  on  November  5,  1875. 
He  upheld  the  negative  side  of  the  question:  "Are  mechanics 
more  useful  to  society  than  professional  men?" 

Three  months  later  the  Jacksonville  Journal  tells  that  "W.  J. 
Bryan  recited  'McLean's  Child'  with  fine  effect."  Indeed,  this 
selection  on  which  he  was  drilled  for  two  weeks  by  S.  S.  Hamill, 
one  of  the  college  instructors  in  public  speaking,  seems  long  to 
have  remained  a  favorite  with  the  boy,  for  dusty  clip  after  clip 
sets  forth  how  he  recited  it  again  and  again. 

In  her  sketch  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Bryan  says :  "During  his 
first  year  at  the  Academy  he  declaimed  Patrick  Henry's  master- 
piece and  not  only  failed  to  win  a  prize  but  ranked  well  down 
in  the  list." 

But  that  failure  was  only   the  beginning  of  the   up-curve. 

For  the  next  year,   1876,  he  entered  the  contest  with  "The 


46  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Palmetto  and  the  Pine"  and  walked  away  with  the  third  prize. 
Along  about  this  time,  too,  the  Sigma  Pi  secretary  writes :  "Then 
came  Wing's  proxy,  Bryan,  who  spoke  well,  as  he  always  does." 

And  in  the  entry  of  February  16,  1877,  the  secretary  com- 
ments thiswise: — "Bryan,  the  substitute  of  W.  E.  Williams, 
showed  the  manly  qualities  of  St.  Louis  in  giving  aid  and  com- 
fort to  Chicago  after  the  fire." 

It  is  an  interesting  commentary  that  the  Williams  mentioned 
was  the  delegate  from  Illinois  who  seconded  Bryan's  nomination 
at  the  Denver  convention. 

The  fall  of  1877  saw  Bryan  a  freshman  at  Illinois  College. 

Founded  in  1829  by  a  group  of  Yale  men,  this  college  was 
one  of  the  oldest  in  the  middle  west.  Edward  Beecher,  brother 
of  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  gave  up  his  pastorate  of  the  Park  Street 
church  of  Boston  in  1830  in  order  to  become  its  first  president. 
Richard  Yates,  the  war  governor  of  Illinois,  was  its  first 
graduate. 

The  roster  of  its  students  in  those  early  days  lists  William 
Herndon,  Lincoln's  law  partner;  John  Wesley  Powell,  the  first 
explorer  of  the  Grand  canyon ;  Robert  W.  Patterson,  first  presi- 
dent of  Lake  Forest  college;  and  George  S.  Park,  founder  of 
Park  college,  Missouri. 

And,  skipping  many  decades,  the  institution  was  a  focal  point 
of  public  attention  not  so  many  years  ago  when  William 
Jennings  Bryan,  one  of  its  famous  alumni,  resigned  from  its 
board  of  trustees  because  the  college  accepted  a  $50,000  Carnegie 
gift.     Bryan  maintained  the  money  was  tainted. 

Oratory  continued  to  fill  an  important  part  in  Bryan's  life  at 
college.  But  let  us,  for  a  moment,  turn  to  the  religious  aspect 
of  this  period.  When  he  was  seventeen  Bryan  had  joined  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  church.  In  Jacksonville  he  became  a 
member  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church. 


THE  STUDENT  47 

As  an  example  of  the  seriousness  with  which  he  took  life 
and  his  obligations  to  it,  they  tell  this  story  of  recreation  in  the 
Jones  household.  Dr.  Jones,  it  seems,  disapproved  of  card- 
playing,  while  his  wife  was  fond  of  it.  By  card-playing,  however, 
they  meant  cribbage  and  checkers  and  chess  and  old-fashioned 
card  games.  Mrs.  Jones  would  have  friends  in  to  play  when 
Dr.  Jones  had  retired  to  the  recesses  of  his  study. 

But  Bryan  never  joined  them. 

"Oh,  I  know  that  it's  all  right,"  he  would  reply  to  their 
queries,  "but  I  can't  play.  Father  asked  me  not  to  when  I  left 
home,  and  I  promised  him  that  I  wouldn't." 

And  that  was  the  end  of  the  discussion  so  far  as  he  was 
concerned. 

Throughout  his  college  days  Bryan  held  his  adherence 
10  his  opinions,  and  his  adaptability  in  nice  balance.  He  was 
staunchly  intolerant  of  other  ideals;  broadly  tolerant  of  those 
who  held  those  ideals. 

So  it  was,  that  while  he  didn't  achieve  any  amazing  popular- 
ity on  the  campus,  he  was  liked;  he  was  respected;  and  he  was 
rewarded  with  some  of  the  substantial  college  honors.  His  first 
such  distinction  came  in  his  freshman  year.  In  the  initial  issue 
of  the  College  Rambler,  of  January,  1878,  mention  is  made  of 
William  Bryan  as  vice-president  of  his  class. 

The  February  number  lists  a  trio  of  prize  winners.  Bryan's 
name  is  there,  for  he  won  half  of  the  second  prize  in  the  Latin 
prose  contest.  A  few  months  later,  in  the  close  of  his  first  year, 
he  declaims  "Bernardo  del  Carpio"  and  carries  off  the  second 
prize.  His  sophomore  year  finds  him  entering  the  oratorical 
lists  armed  with  an  original  essay  on  "Labor".  First  prize 
rewards  him. 

His  first  recorded  oration  was  reproduced  in  the  Rambler  for 


48  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

February,  1879.  Sophomoric  though  it  was  in  many  respects, 
and  a  bit  too  flowery  in  some  places,  the  speech  has,  neverthe- 
less, forensic  foreshadowings  of  some  of  the  later  products  of 
the  silver  tongued  orator. 

Here  are  a  few  sentences  from  it: 

"That  is  not  worth  having  which  is  not  worth  toiling  for. 

"There  is  no  distinguished  victory  without  hard  fighting  to 
win  it.     Great  honors  do  not  come  without  great  exertions. 

"It  is  possible  to  grow  in  size  but  strength  comes  only  with 
exercise. 

"Natural  talent  does  not  remove  the  necessity  for  labor. 

"If  it  were  possible  to  rise  in  the  estimation  of  our  fellow- 
men  without  an  effort,  honor  would  lose  its  charms." 

The  up-curve  is  now  plotting  its  triumphant  course  with  ease, 
but  its  progress  has  been  gained  by  hard  work. 

The  assiduous  way  in  which  the  young  man  pegged  away  at 
that  art  of  patterning  words  together  effectively  and  then  pro- 
jecting the  pattern  forcibly,  has  been  best  described  by  Dr. 
G.  A.  Hulett,  the  Springfield  historian  who  chummed  with  Bryan 
through  academy  and  college. 

Indeed,  it  was  a  strip  of  woods  on  the  Hulett  estate  near  the 
college  that  was  Bryan's  coliseum.  And  young  Hulett  was  the 
audience.  These  rehearsals,  out  there  in  the  woods,  were  daily 
events.  When  the  rehearsal  was  done,  the  speaker  and  listener 
would  hurry  over  to  the  athletic  field  to  practice  the  broad  jump. 
Theirs  was  a  friendly  rivalry  here,  for  they  were  the  two  best 
broad  jumpers  in  school. 

Athletics  had  a  certain  appeal  to  Bryan,  but  they  never  edged 
out  his  love  for  debate.  During  his  sophomore  year  he  spoke 
often.  Here  are  some  of  the  debate  questions,  as  listed  by  the 
scribe  of  Sigma  Pi: 

"Shall  Garfield  be  the  next  President  of  the  United  States  ?" 


THE  STUDENT  49 

"Shall  the  immigration  of  Chinese  to  this  country  be  pro- 
hibited?" 

But  more  significant,  in  the  light  of  the  reforms  he  was  later 
to  advocate  so  passionately,  is  the  report  that  he  took  the  affirma- 
tive in  these  two  debates : 

"Resolved :  That  intemperance  is  more  destructive  than  war. 

"Resolved:  That  the  president  of  the  United  States  should 
be  elected  by  popular  vote." 

It  was  in  February  of  this  year,  1879,  that  Bryan  was  elected 
sergeant-at-arms  of  Sigma  Pi,  at  the  same  election  which  put 
Richard  Yates,  Jr.,  in  as  president.  Yates,  who  was  to  follow 
in  his  father's  foosteps  and  become  Republican  governor  of 
Illinois  in  1901,  had  pleasant  relations  with  the  future  leader  of 
the  Democratic  party,  through  the  debating  society.  There  is 
no  record  of  any  great  intimacy  beyond  that,  for  Yates  was  one 
year  ahead  of  Bryan  in  school. 

But  then,  with  the  exception  of  his  close  friendship  for  Hulett, 
contemporaries  recall  that  Bryan  made  no  very  close  friends  on 
the  campus.  Living  at  Dr.  Jones'  home,  he  mingled  as  much,  if 
not  more,  with  the  town  boys,  as  with  the  college  youths.  "Phil" 
Dunlap,  his  greatest  friend,  did  not  attend  college,  but  worked 
in  a  Jacksonville  bank. 

As  a  junior  Bryan  tried  for  and  won  first  prize  with  an  ora- 
tion on  "Individual  Powers."  Part  of  the  prize  was  a  volume 
of  the  poems  of  William  Cullen  Bryant.  The  college  junior  was 
delighted  for  the  volume  contained  his  favorite  poem,  "Ode  to  a 
Waterfowl,"  and  he  underscored  his  favorite  passage,  which 
might  almost  be  used  as  the  keynote  theme  of  his  life : 
"He  who,  from  zone  to  zone, 

Guides  through  the  boundless  sky  thy  certain  flight, 
In  the  long  way  that  I  must  tread  alone, 
Will  lead  my  steps  aright." 


50  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

It  was  this  book,  with  his  beloved  poem  marked,  that  Bryan 
gave  as  his  first  gift  to  the  girl  who  was  to  become  Mrs.  Bryan. 
But  of  that,  more  later. 

This  junior  year  victory  qualified  Bryan,  in  the  beginning  of 
his  senior  year,  to  represent  his  Alma  Mater  in  the  intercollegiate 
oratorical  contest  held  in  the  fall  of  1880  at  Galesburg.  He 
spoke  on  "Justice,"  and  won  the  second  prize.  It  was  fifty 
dollars.  There  was  a  by-product  of  this  success  which  made 
the  winner  happy.  Gen.  John  C.  Black  of  Illinois,  one  of  the 
judges,  marked  Bryan  100  per  cent  on  his  delivery.  And  he 
asked  the  young  man  to  drop  around  to  see  him  at  his  hotel. 

Bryan  spent  an  hour  or  so  with  the  general,  learning,  he  said 
later,  many  valuable  rules  of  oratory. 

That  steady  but  none  too  flashy  success  which  had  been 
working  along  for  six  years  now  reached  out  and  got  to  the  very 
top  by  commencement  day,  June,  1881.  For  he  was  elected  class 
orator;  and  his  high  academic  standing  made  him  class  valedic- 
torian. 

The  class  oration,  on  the  class  motto,  "Ducamus,  non 
sequamur"  (Let  us  lead,  not  follow),  which  he  had  suggested  to 
his  fellow  students,  concluded  with  these  words: 

"Character  is  the  entity,  the  individuality  of  the  person 
shining  from  every  window  of  the  soul,  either  as  a  beam  of 
purity,  or  as  a  clouded  ray  that  betrays  the  impurity  within. 
The  contest  between  light  and  darkness,  right  and  wrong,  goes 
on — and  this  is  the  all-important  question  which  comes  to  us  in 
accents  ever  growing  fainter  as  we  journey  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave,  'Shall  those  characters  be  good  or  bad  ?' " 

And  the  first  paragraph  of  his  valedictory,  which  has  assumed 
a  deeper  significance  since  the  Scopes  evolution  trial,  contains 
these  words: 

"Beloved  instructors,  it  is  character  not  less  than  intellect 


THE  STUDENT  51 

that  you  have  striven  to  develop.  As  we  stand  at  the  end  of 
our  college  course  and  turn  our  eyes  toward  the  scenes  forever 
past  ...  we  are  more  and  more  deeply  impressed  with  the 
true  conception  of  duty  which  you  have  ever  shown.  You  have 
sought  not  to  trim  the  lamp  of  genius  until  the  light  of  morality 
is  paled  by  its  dazzling  brilliance,  but  to  encourage  and 
strengthen  both/' 

The  class  day  ceremonies  did  not  leave  Bryan  out  of  the 
picture.     One  S.  J.  McKinney,  class  poet,  recited  how: 
"Comes  Bryan  on  the  stand, 
With  many  great  orations  in  his  hand. 
Accustomed  to  dispute,  with  all  compete, 
He  learned  to  act  in  victory  or  defeat." 

And  his  good  friend  Hulett,  the  class  historian,  said:  "Law 
and  politics  are  his  friends  and  he  intends  to  court  them  as  soon 
as  other  things  permit." 

The  academic  honors,  the  jolly  and  sincere  tributes  of  his  class- 
mates, the  praises  of  Dr.  Jones,  were  all  valuable  and  valued. 

But  the  Great  Commoner,  for  he  was  already  beginning  to 
be  that,  had  made  still  other  contacts,  and  had  endeared  himself 
to  many  others  outside  the  path  of  his  student  life. 

So  it  is  appropriate  that  Bryan,  the  college  graduate,  about 
to  leave  for  law  school  in  Chicago,  should  receive  the  final  tribute 
from  J.  A.  Goltra,  the  Jacksonville  hatter  for  whom  he  had 
worked. 

Mr.  Goltra,  in  earnest  reminiscence  years  later,  said: 

"Will  used  to  work  for  me  in  the  store  Saturdays  when  he 
went  to  college.  He  was  the  most  likable  boy  I  ever  knew. 
We  all  thought  the  world  of  him  and  we  were  sorry  when  he 


CHAPTER  IV 


Blackstone  and  Orange  Blossoms 

Meets  Mary  Baird — Her  Estimate  of  Young  Bryan — Frequent 
Caller — The  Courtship — April  Fool  Joke — Chicago  Union  College 
of  Law — Lives  in  Home  of  Lyman  Trumbull — Law  Degree,  1883 — 
Returns  to  Jacksonville — Enters  Law  Practice — How  He  Asked 
Mary's  Father — Marriage,  October  1,  1884. 

The  fall  of  1881  saw  William  Jennings  Bryan  starting  off 
for  Chicago  to  enter  the  Union  College  of  Law  and  to  pursue 
a  two-year  course  which  was  to  project  him  far  on  his  political 
career. 

That  same  fall  saw  the  young  man  already  making  plans  to 
return  to  Jacksonville  just  as  soon  as  he  could  get  his  law  degree, 
in  order  that  he  might  marry  Mary  E.  Baird,  the  schoolday 
sweetheart  who  was  to  be  his  supreme  companion  to  the  very 
last  hour  of  his  life. 

Ever  since  that  day,  years  before,  when  he  had  determinedly 
announced  that  he  purposed  to  be  a  "lawyer  just  like  father," 
he  bad  been  shaping  his  plans  to  that  end.  But  for  the  two 
years  before  his  college  graduation  he  had  been  more  than  ever 
anxious  to  become  an  attorney.  And  the  reason  was  not  so 
much  one  of  law  as  it  was  one  of  matrimony. 

For  in  the  beginning  of  his  junior  year  Bryan  had  met  Miss 
Baird,  the  only  daughter  of  a  wealthy  merchant  from  Perry, 
Illinois.    She  was  attending  the  Jacksonville  Female  Seminary. 

The  person  who  should  know  most  about  that  first  meet- 
ing and  the  impression  it  made  on  Miss  Baird  ought  to  be 
that  young  lady,  herself.  Happily,  in  her  sketch  of  Bryan's 
life,  Mrs.  Bryan  has  included  the  following  autobiographical  bit : 

52 


P.    &   A.    photo. 

Colonel — Leader  of  the  3d  Nebraska 
volunteers  in  '98. 


©  P.    &    A.    photo. 

Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte— Break- 
ing into  politics. 


P.    &   A.    photo. 


The  Farm  Home — To  this  house  near  Salem,  111.,  Bryan's  parents  moved 
a  few  years  after  his  birth  in  1860. 


P.    &    A.    photo. 


First  Home  of  His  Own — In  Jacksonville,  111. 


BLACKSTONE  AND  ORANGE  BLOSSOMS    55 

"My  personal  knowledge  of  Mr.  Bryan  dates  from  September, 
1879.  He  was  then  entering  upon  his  junior  year.  At  the  risk 
of  departing  from  the  purpose  of  this  biography,  I  shall  speak 
of  my  first  impression.  I  saw  him  first  in  the  parlors  of  the 
young  ladies'  school  which  I  attended  in  Jacksonville.  He 
entered  the  room  with  several  other  students,  was  taller  than 
the  rest,  and  attracted  my  attention  at  once. 

"His  face  was  pale  and  thin ;  a  pair  of  keen,  dark  eyes  looked 
out  from  beneath  heavy  brows;  his  nose  was  prominent — too 
large  to  look  well,  I  thought;  a  broad  thin-lipped  mouth  and  a 
square  chin  completed  the  contour  of  his  face.  He  was  neat, 
though  not  fastidious  in  dress,  and  stood  firmly  and  with  dignity. 

"I  noted  particularly  his  hair  and  his  smile.  The  former, 
black  in  color,  fine  in  quality,  and  parted  distressingly  straight; 
the  latter,  expansive  and  expressive." 

The  description  concludes  with  this  challenge  to  critics: 

"In  later  years  this  smile  has  been  the  subject  of  considerable 
comment ;  but  the  well-rounded  cheeks  of  Mr.  Bryan  now  check 
its  onward  march,  and  no  one  has  seen  the  real  breadth  of  the 
smile  who  did  not  see  it  in  the  early  days.  Upon  one  occasion 
a  heartless  observer  was  heard  to  remark,  'That  man  can  whisper 
in  his  own  ear/  but  that  was  a  cruel  exaggeration." 

Bryan  never  made  public  his  own  reactions  to  that  meet- 
ing. But  it  isn't  difficult  to  speculate  on  them.  For  he  imme- 
diately became  a  constant  visitor  at  the  seminary.  In  fact  he 
was  one  of  the  "trusties"  whom  Principal  Bullard  permitted  to 
make  formal  calls  at  the  academy.  And  formal  calls  they  cer- 
tainly must  have  been,  judging  from  his  sartorial  equipment. 
He  wore  a  checked  suit,  with  a  heavy  silver  watch  chain  swing- 
ing back  and  forth  ponderously.  And,  of  course,  he  boasted  a 
tiled  white  hat  and  carried  one  of  those  slender  canes  that  were 
the  vogue  then. 


56  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

But  Bryan  was  not  the  only  young  person  to  whom 
Principal  Bullard  granted  privileges.  Miss  Baird's  good  con- 
duct and  her  general  high  standing,  plus  the  intercession  of  Mrs. 
Jones,  won  for  her  permission  to  visit  in  the  Jones  home.  The 
Jones'  were  childless,  and  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  kindly  woman,  in  her  motherly  way,  was  not  averse  to 
acting  the  role  of  matchmaker. 

But  neither  is  it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  youth  who 
was  to  become  the  silver  tongued  orator  was  well  able  to  chart 
out  the  steps  of  his  own  romance. 

However  that  may  have  been,  we  know  that  the  romance 
thrived.  Here  were  two  students,  a  boy  and  a  girl,  young, 
earnest,  with  not  unlike  heritages  and  with  similar  interests. 
And  their  friendship  was  silhouetted  against  a  background  of 
college  life,  of  campus  ambitions,  and  of  the  gentle  atmosphere 
of  the  Jones  home.     Small  wonder  the  romance  prospered. 

But  it  was  no  pale,  sickly  thing.  It  was  full  of  study  and 
full  of  fun.  A  visitor  in  the  Jones  home  relates  an  anecdote 
which  goes  something  like  this: 

Every  morning  Bryan  used  to  step  out  on  to  the  balcony 
leading  from  his  room,  and  wave  a  handkerchief  greeting  across 
the  campus  to  Mary  Baird,  who  returned  the  salute,  standing 
at  the  window  in  her  room  of  the  seminary  dormitory.  On 
April  Fool's  morning  Bryan  rigged  up  a  life-like  looking  dummy, 
placed  a  handkerchief  in  its  hand,  and  set  it  up  in  the  corner 
of  the  balcony. 

Mary  Baird  stepped  to  her  window  and  waved.  No  reply. 
She  waved  again.  And  again.  She  was  beginning  to  grow 
worried  when  another  figure  stepped  out  on  the  balcony,  stooped 
down  and  picked  up  the  handkerchief  and  waved  an  enthusiastic 
good-morning. 

But  more  seriously,  those  days  of  wooing  and  winning  left 


BLACKSTONE  AND  ORANGE  BLOSSOMS    57 

a  deep  impress  in  the  heart  and  mind  of  Bryan.  Years  later,  in 
his  famous  speech  in  the  concluding  campaign  of  1908,  he  paid 
this  solemn  tribute  to  his  wife: 

"When  but  a  young  man  not  yet  out  of  college,  I  was  guided 
to  the  selection  of  one  who  for  twenty-four  years  has  been  my 
faithful  helpmate.  No  presidential  victory  could  have  brought 
her  to  me,  and  no  defeat  can  take  her  from  me." 

Even  as  early  as  the  summer  of  1880,  less  than  a  year  after 
he  had  met  her,  Bryan  seems  to  have  been  confiding  in  her  all 
his  boyish  aspirations,  and  she  seems  to  have  known  his  every 
success  and  defeat.  For  instance,  to  choose  but  one  of  many 
examples,  there  is  the  story  she  has  ever  been  fond  of  telling 
"for  the  encouragement  of  young  speakers/' 

The  story  tells  of  Bryan  returning  to  the  outskirts  of  Salem 
to  deliver  a  Democratic  speech  at  a  farmers'  picnic  in  his  old 
home-town  community.  Two  speakers  were  to  precede  him  on 
the  program.  When  he  arrived  at  the  picnic  grove  he  found 
the  two  speakers  with  an  audience  of  four :  the  owner  of  the 
grove,  the  man  who  spun  the  wheel  of  fortune,  and  two  men 
who  had  hopefully  planned  to  sell  lemonade  to  the  throng. 

Mrs.  Bryan  tells  this  with  a  deal  of  humor.  But  she  never 
fails  to  add  the  serious  postscript  that  later  in  the  fall  he  made 
four  political  speeches  for  Hancock  and  English,  the  first  of 
which  was  delivered  in  the  court  house  at  Salem. 

So  then,  in  the  fall  of  1881,  Bryan  went  to  law  school  in 
Chicago.  Here  again,  events  seem  to  have  justified  Bryan's  oft- 
repeated  remark  that  he  was  "a  child  of  fortune  from  my  birth," 
and  that,  "When  I  was  in  law  school,  I  was  fortunate  enough, 
as  I  was  in  my  college  days,  to  fall  under  the  influence  of  men 
of  ideals  who  helped  to  shape  my  course." 

The  big  influence  in  his  life  during  these  Chicago  days  was 
ex-Senator  Lyman  Trumbull,  who  had  been  a  political  friend  of 


58  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Judge  Bryan.  Out  of  school  hours  the  judge's  son  worked 
in  the  senator's  law  office.  And  in  school  hours  he  made  friends 
with  the  senator's  son,  Henry  Trumbull.  It  wasn't  many  days 
before  William  Jennings  packed  up  his  bags  and  moved  over 
to  his  second  foster  home,  the  Trumbull  house,  where  he  was 
to  live  the  next  two  years. 

It  was  of  Lyman  Trumbull  that  Bryan,  standing  over  his 
new  made  grave  the  Sunday  after  the  "Cross  of  Gold"  speech 
at  the  Chicago  convention,  said: 

"Any  distinction  I  have  gained  I  owe  in  part  to  the  man 
who  is  buried  here." 

Academically,  too,  Bryan  was  happy  in  Chicago.  The  study 
of  constitutional  law,  his  classmates  tell  us,  engaged  his  zealous 
attention.  There  were  debates,  many  of  them,  and  Bryan  took 
an  active  part  in  them.  With  a  foreshadowing  of  some  of  his 
later  speeches,  he  chose  for  his  graduation  thesis,  a  defense  of 
the  jury  system. 

But,  by  far  the  most  important  thing  which  happened  to 
Bryan  during  those  two  years  at  law  school  happened  many 
miles  from  the  court  room.  It  happened  at  the  home  of  Miss 
Baird,  where  she  cared  tenderly  for  her  blind  father. 

Here's  the  way  the  then  Miss  Baird  recollects  the  event: 

"Many  persons  have  remarked  upon  the  fondness  Mr.  Bryan 
shows  for  quoting  Scripture.  This  habit  is  one  of  long  stand- 
ing as  the  following  circumstance  shows. 

"The  time  came  when  it  seemed  proper  for  him  to  have  a 
little  conversation  with  my  father,  and  this  was  something  of 
an  ordeal  as  father  is  rather  a  reserved  man.  In  his  dilemma 
William  sought  refuge  in  the  Scriptures,  and  began :  'Mr.  Baird, 
I  have  been  reading  Proverbs  a  good  deal  lately,  and  find  that 
Solomon  says,  'Whoso  findeth  a  wife,  findeth  a  good  thing  and 
obtaineth  favor  of  the  Lord.' 


BLACKSTONE  AND  ORANGE  BLOSSOMS    59 

"Father,  being  something  of  a  Bible  scholar  himself,  replied ; 
'Yes,  I  believe  Solomon  did  say  that,  but  Paul  suggests  that 
while  he  that  marrieth  doeth  well,  he  that  marrieth  not  doeth 
better/ 

"This  was  disheartening,  but  the  young  man  saw  his  way 
through.  'Solomon  would  be  the  best  authority  upon  this  point/ 
rejoined  Mr.  Bryan,  'because  Paul  was  never  married,  while 
Solomon  had  a  number  of  wives/ 

"After  this  friendly  tilt  the  matter  was  satisfactorily  ar- 
ranged." 

Graduated  from  Union  College  of  Law  in  the  spring  of  1883, 
Bryan  elected  to  return  to  Jacksonville  rather  than  to  Salem. 
And  the  reason  has  already  been  made  pretty  plain.  On  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1883,  he  hung  out  a  shingle  from  the  office  of 
Brown  &  Kirby  where  he  had  desk  room,  and  for  six  months 
at  least  not  much  else. 

Bryan's  father  had  died  in  1880  and  several  times  during 
those  first  lean  months  his  attorney's  fees  were  supplemented 
by  drafts  from  Judge  Bryan's  estate.  Along  about  January  of 
the  new  year,  the  young  lawyer  wrote  to  his  old  classmate, 
Henry  Trumbull,  then  practicing  his  profession  in  Albuquerque, 
New  Mexico,  and  asked  about  the  possibilities  for  one  more 
lawyer  in  that  territory. 

But  after  the  turn  of  the  year  things  went  better.  That 
spring  Brown  &  Kirby  turned  over  their  collection  department 
to  him.  And  that  summer,  William  Jennings  Bryan  planned 
and  had  built  for  him  a  house,  not  a  large  house,  but  large 
enough  for  two. 

And  so  they  were  married,  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1884. 


CHAPTER  V 


Young  Lawyer — Coming  Politician 

Chance  Visit  to  Lincoln,  Neb. — Removes  There,  1887 — Law  Part- 
nership with  A.  R.  Talbot — Builds  Home — Law  Practice — Meeting 
With  Charles  G.  Dawes — His  First  Political  Appearance — Speaks 
at  Democratic  State  Convention — Enters  Politics,  but  Declines 
Nomination  for  Lieutenant  Governor — Congressional  Timber. 

It  was  the  first  of  October,  1887,  three  years  to  a  day  follow- 
ing his  marriage,  that  William  Jennings  Bryan  arrived  in  Lin- 
coln, Nebraska,  full  of  plans  for  entering  a  legal  partnership 
there  and  for  building  a  house  to  which  he  might  soon  bring 
his  wife  and  their  baby  daughter,  Ruth. 

Those  first  three  years  in  Jacksonville  had  been  happy,  ener- 
getic, eventful.  But  the  next  three  years  were  to  be  even  hap- 
pier, and  certainly  more  energetic  and  more  eventful. 

During  the  Jacksonville  period  Bryan's  law  practice  pros- 
pered well  enough  for  the  young  couple  to  lay  up  a  small  reserve 
fund  and  to  provide  adequately,  though  economically,  for  their 
personal  needs.  Nor  were  oratory,  politics,  debate,  brushed  aside 
in  the  duties  of  a  lawyer.  Every  campaign  found  Bryan  out 
stumping  the  country,  and  winning  more  and  more  friends. 

Three  years  after  his  graduation,  his  Alma  Mater  called  him 
back  to  deliver  the  master's  oration  and  receive  a  master's  degree 
at  Illinois  college.     He  spoke  on  "American  Citizenship." 

While  Bryan  was  busy  taking  care  of  his  law  practice,  mak- 
ing speeches  and  receiving  college  degrees,  Mrs.  Bryan  was  not 
permitting  her  early  academic  industry  to  taper  off.  Besides 
taking  care  of  the  home  and  of  the  new  baby,  this  enterprising 
woman  studied  law,  which  was  none  too  usual  for  a  woman  to 
do  in  those  days,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Nebraska  bar. 

60 


YOUNG  LAWYER,  COMING  POLITICIAN  61 

She  did  not  take  up  the  law  with  any  idea  of  practicing  it. 
But  rather,  that  she  might,  in  still  another  department  of  his 
varied  interests,  be  an  understanding  and  helpful  companion  to 
her  husband. 

Referring  again  to  Bryan's  oft-repeated  remark  that  he  was 
"a  child  of  fortune  from  birth,"  it  is  interesting  to  note  how  he 
chanced  to  remove  to  the  west. 

In  the  summer  of  1887  Attorney  Bryan  was  called  out  to 
Kansas  and  Iowa  to  attend  to  some  legal  business.  His  fondness 
for  a  law  school  classmate,  one  A.  R.  Talbot,  drew  him  on  to 
Lincoln  to  spend  Sunday  with  his  old  friend.  Almost  ten  years 
earlier,  in  his  freshman  year  at  college,  he  had  met  Horace 
Greeley  when  the  editor  had  visited  Dr.  Jones'  home.  He  had 
talked  with  him  and  mayhap  had  caught  from  that  distinguished 
gentleman  something  of  his  fervor  for  the  "Go  west,  young  man" 
program. 

At  any  rate  Bryan  was  enthusiastic  that  Sunday  afternoon 
over  the  beauties  and  merits  of  Lincoln,  a  young  state  capital 
pioneering  its  way  forward.  His  enthusiasm  carried  over  when 
he  returned  to  Illinois.  He  thought  often  of  the  new  city  to  the 
west  and  of  its  advantages  for  a  young  lawyer  with  ambition. 
Presently,  after  talking  it  over  with  his  wife,  he  decided  to 
move  to  Lincoln. 

Bryan,  character  delineators  will  say,  would  have  been  Bryan 
no  matter  what  geographic  spot  he  had  chosen.  But  certain  it 
is  that  the  title,  "The  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte,"  and,  more 
fundamentally,  the  reputation  that  he  won  as  an  obscure  lawyer 
rising  up,  overnight  almost,  in  a  western  city,  would  never 
have  come  his  way  had  he  not  gone  to  Lincoln. 

He  went  first  to  Lincoln  alone,  leaving  his  wife  and  baby 
back  in  their  home  at  Jacksonville  for  eight  months.  It  was 
well   that   he   had,   for   the   first    six   months   were   precarious 


62  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

financially.  True,  his  name  was  linked  with  that  of  his  friend, 
Talbot,  in  partnership.  But  where  Talbot  had  a  regular  salary 
as  a  railroad  attorney,  Bryan,  once  again,  had  to  begin  at  the 
bottom  rung  of  the  ladder. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year,  however,  the  Bryan  treasury  grew 
sufficient  for  the  lawyer  to  build  a  house  in  Lincoln  and  in  a 
month  or  so  Mrs.  Bryan  and  Ruth  joined  him  in  it. 

Later,  at  the  Chicago  convention,  they  were  to  say  harsh 
things  of  this  young  candidate,  hard  words  about  his  pecuniary 
difficulties;  were  to  make  charges  about  his  inability  to  make  a 
living  as  a  lawyer. 

In  her  sketch  of  her  husband's  life,  Mrs.  Bryan  meets  those 
charges  this  way : 

"I  might  here  suggest  an  answer  to  hostile  criticism,  namely 
that  Mr.  Bryan  did  not  distinguish  himself  as  a  lawyer.  Those 
who  thus  complain  should  consider  that  he  entered  the  practice 
at  twenty-three  and  left  it  at  thirty,  and  during  that  period  began 
twice,  and  twice  became  more  than  self-supporting.  At  the  time 
of  his  election  to  Congress  his  practice  was  in  a  thriving  condi- 
tion, and  fully  equal  to  that  of  any  man  of  his  age  in  the  city." 

Politics  had  been  no  motive  in  Bryan's  removal  to  Lincoln. 
In  fact,  he  had  moved  into  a  preponderantly  Republican  terri- 
tory. And  so,  for  the  first  year,  he  was  concerned  largely  with 
taking  care  of  and  building  up  his  law  practice,  with  making 
informal  rather  than  political  talks,  and  with  enlarging  his 
circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances. 

On  the  first  point  there  are  numberless  anecdotes  told,  testify- 
ing to  his  clean  reputation.  Friends  tell  that  he  had  a  more 
than  average  knowledge  of  the  law  for  one  of  his  limited  experi- 
ence, that  he  had  a  tremendous  power  over  a  jury,  winning  them 
by  his  argument  as  well  as  his  oratory. 

A  musty  old  file  of  the  court  records  of  those  days  reveals 


YOUNG  LAWYER,  COMING  POLITICIAN  63 

an  amusing  story  of  a  law-suit  in  which  Vice-President  Charles 
G.  Dawes  and  Bryan  were  court  opponents.  The  judgment  was 
for  $1.27,  and  Dawes  won. 

On  the  second  point — his  oratory — the  lad  who  used  to  prac- 
tice speeches  out  in  the  woods  at  Jacksonville  was  now  achiev-' 
ing  considerable  of  a  local  reputation  for  his  use  of  words. 
The  following  is  an  excerpt  from  a  speech  which  he  delivered 
at  a  Methodist  church  banquet,  and  presents  his  views  on  the 
law  as  a  profession: 

"Next  to  the  ministry  I  know  of  no  more  noble  profession 
than  the  law.  The  object  aimed  at  is  justice,  equal  and  exact, 
and  if  it  does  not  reach  that  end  at  once  it  is  because  the  stream 
is  diverted  by  selfishness  or  checked  by  ignorance.  Its  prin- 
ciples ennoble  and  its  practice  elevates.  If  you  point  to  the  petti- 
fogger, I  will  answer  that  he  is  as  much  out  of  place  in  the  temple 
of  justice  as  is  the  hypocrite  in  the  house  of  God.  You  will  find 
the  'book  on  tricks'  in  the  library  of  the  legal  bankrupt — nowhere 
else.  In  no  business  in  life  do  honesty,  truthfulness  and  up- 
rightness of  conduct  pay  a  larger  dividend  upon  the  investment 
than  in  the  law.  He  who  fancies  that  mendacity,  loquacity  and 
pertinacity  are  the  only  accomplishments  of  a  successful  lawyer, 
is  not  only  blind  to  his  highest  welfare  and  to  his  greatest  good, 
but  also  treading  upon  dangerous  ground. 

"You  cannot  judge  a  man's  life  by  the  success  of  a  moment, 
by  the  victory  of  an  hour,  or  even  by  the  results  of  a  year.  You 
must  view  his  life  as  a  whole.  You  must  stand  where  you  can 
see  the  man  as  he  treads  the  entire  path  that  leads  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave — now  crossing  the  plain,  now  climbing  the 
steeps,  now  passing  through  pleasant  fields,  now  wending  his 
way  with  difficulty  between  rugged  rocks — tempted,  tried, 
tested,  triumphant.  The  completed  life  of  every  lawyer,  either 
by  its  success  or  failure,  emphasizes  the  words  of  Solomon — 'The 


64  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

path  of  the  just  is  as  a  shining  light  that  shineth  more  and  more 
unto  the  perfect  day/  " 

And  as  to  the  third  point,  the  ever-widening  arc  of  friendly 
contact  with  the  "folks"  the  Commoner  loved,  the  examples 
are  legion. 

Bryan  was  always  a  great  mixer.  He  liked  people.  And 
they  liked  him.  He  never  smoked,  he  never  chewed  tobacco, 
and  he  never  took  a  drink ;  but  he  soon  became  one  of  the  most 
popular  men  in  the  community. 

A  few  months  after  his  arrival  in  Lincoln  he  was  one  of 
eleven  men  to  organize  a  combination  literary  and  social  club, 
known  as  the  Round  Table.  Debates  were  held.  But  what  the 
men  liked  best  were  the  informal  talks  that  led  them  in  and 
about  the  paths  of  politics,  religion,  theology  and  history. 

Bryan  was  one  of  the  leaders.  But  nobody  put  him  up  on 
a  pedestal  and  hesitated  to  disagree  with  him,  never,  even  when 
the  Round  Table  had  grown  to  larger  proportions ;  and  when 
Bryan  was  a  national  figure,  neither  did  his  fellow  members  treat 
him  as  anything  but  Will  Bryan.  They  called  him  down  when 
they  didn't  like  his  logic,  just  as  he  called  them  down  when  he 
didn't  like  their  logic. 

For  all  his  capacity  for  friendship,  Bryan  was  not  a  "joiner." 
He  belonged  to  few  clubs.  In  Lincoln  he  joined  Lincoln  lodge 
No.  80,  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of  Elks.  But  although 
he  frequently  wore  the  Elk  watch-charm  he  rarely  went  to  the 
club-house.  Later,  he  scorned  the  golf  club  to  join  the  Farmers' 
club. 

For  about  a  year  then,  Bryan  was  out  of  politics.  But  he 
couldn't  stay  away  much  longer.  Nor  could  the  Democrats 
scattered  here  and  there  through  the  state  afford  to  let  this  bril- 
liant orator  stay  off  the  stump  any  longer. 

Present    day   political    tacticians   who    advocate    ward   poli- 


YOUNG  LAWYER,  COMING  POLITICIAN  65 

tics  as  the  basis  for  a  sound  political  career  as  well  as  for  reliable 
political  organization  might  well  take  him  for  example. 

The  pebble  of  his  voice  and  influence,  small  enough  at  first, 
was  cast  into  the  waters  of  the  political  fight  in  his  own 
ward.  Then  the  circle  of  ripples  about  this  pebble  widened 
out  through  the  county,  then  the  state,  and  finally,  of  course,  to 
the  nation  and  the  world. 

Of  political  hostility,  and  there  was  plenty  of  it  in  this  Re- 
publican stronghold,  Bryan  made  capital.  They  tell  the  story 
of  his  retort  to  an  adversary  who  had  twice  given  him  the  lie 
in  Lincoln. 

"I  have  your  enmity,"  Bryan  said,  "and  it  is  a  benefit  to  me." 

His  first  political  speech  was  made,  we  are  told,  in  the  town 
of  Seward  in  the  spring  of  1888. 

A  few  weeks  later,  in  May,  he  went  as  a  delegate  to  the 
Democratic  state  convention  in  Omaha  which  was  to  choose 
delegates  to  the  national  convention  at  St.  Louis.  During  an 
interlude,  some  of  Bryan's  admirers  called  on  the  young  orator 
for  a  speech.  He  talked  of  the  subject  that  was  on  every  man's 
tongue  just  then,  the  subject  that  was  long  to  be  on  his  tongue — 
the  tariff.  He  was  the  focal  point  of  the  convention,  and  when 
the  speech  was  finished  the  crowd  went  wild. 

Curiously  enough,  this  experience,  with  far  more  heightened 
effect,  with  even  more  drama  in  it,  was  to  be  repeated  eight  years 
later  when  the  "Cross  of  Gold"  speech  made  a  none  too  promi- 
nent delegate  an  internationally  famous  presidential  candidate. 
The  Omaha  speech,  in  a  lesser  degree,  did  this.  It  took  a  promis- 
ing Lincoln  lawyer  and  made  him  the  most  prominent  figure  in 
Nebraska  politics. 

The  following  year  Bryan  declined  the  nomination  for 
lieutenant  governor  of  the  state.  But  he  gave  every  possible 
support  to  the  campaign  and  stumped  every  county  in  Nebraska. 


66  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Which  brings  us  to  the  year  1890.  The  Democratic  party- 
had  just  lost  the  First  Congressional  district  of  the  state  to 
the  Republicans  in  a  landslide  that  transferred  the  normal  Demo- 
cratic plurality  of  7,000  in  the  district  to  a  margin  of  3,400  on  the 
minus  side.  The  Democrats  had  no  candidate  for  Congress  and 
the  managers  were  casting  about  for  a  Moses  who  should  lead 
them  back  to  victory. 

And  their  eyes  all  turned  to  Bryan. 


CHAPTER  VI 


"Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte" 

Nominated  for  Congress — Writes  Silver  Plank  in  State  Platform — 
Debates  with  Connell — Presents  Him  with  Gray's  "Elegy" — 
Stumps  District— Wins  Election  by  6,713  Votes— Fifty-Second 
Congress — Member  Ways  and  Means  Committee — Free  Wool 
Speech— The  "Cahoots"  Story — Demonstration  for  the  "Boy  Ora- 
tor of  the  Platte." 

As  these  political  managers  looked  at  Bryan  they  all  came 
to  the  same  conclusion.  In  February  of  1890  they  met  together 
quite  informally  at  Omaha,  and  agreed  to  tender  the  nomination 
to  the  lawyer  who  was  not  quite  thirty.  Then,  equally  in- 
formally, they  went  and  told  Bryan.  He  looked  over  the  situa- 
tion, found  it  pretty  hopeless  in  view  of  the  recent  Republican 
landslide  in  his  district,  but  said  he  would  accept  the  nomina- 
tion "Because  no  one  else  would  have  it,"  and  promised  to 
"make  a  good  race  and  do  my  best." 

The  following  July,  the  30th  of  the  month,  the  nominating 
convention  was  held  at  Lincoln.  He  was  tendered  a  unanimous 
nomination. 

Here  is  Bryan's  first  speech  of  acceptance: 

"I  accept  from  your  hands  and  at  your  command  the  Demo- 
cratic standard  for  this  Congressional  district,  and  whether  I 
carry  it  to  victory,  or  as  our  President  has  gracefully  expressed 
it,  'fall  fighting  just  outside  the  breastworks/  it  shall  not  suffer 
dishonor.  You  have  nominated  me  knowing  that  I  have  neither 
the  means  nor  the  inclination  to  win  an  election  by  corrupt 
means.  If  I  am  elected  it  will  be  because  the  voters  of  this  dis- 
trict have,  by  their  free  and  voluntary  choice  selected  me  as 
their  public  servant.     I  cannot  promise  that  my  course  will  be 

67 


68  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

free  from  mistakes,  but  I  will  promise  that  if  elected  every  duty 
devolving  upon  me,  whether  great  or  small,  as  your  representa- 
tive on  the  floor  or  in  the  execution  of  the  details  of  the  office, 
will  be  discharged  as  my  judgment  shall  dictate  and  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  so  help  me  God." 

The  Republican  candidate  was  W.  J.  Connell  of  Omaha,  a 
man  brilliant  and  experienced,  then  representing  the  district  at 
Washington.  Bryan  still  had  to  win  his  spurs  but  he  wasn't 
afraid,  and  just  about  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  challenge 
Connell  to  a  debate.     Connell  accepted. 

The  convention  which  nominated  Bryan  had  stood  rigorously 
on  the  plank  in  its  platform  which  Bryan  himself  had  written, 
a  plank  demanding  free  coinage  and  decrying  "the  effort  of  the 
Republican  party  to  serve  the  interests  of  Wall  Street  as  against 
the  rights  of  the  people."  But  Connell  had  no  quarrel  with  him 
on  the  silver  issue,  so  the  debate  was  confined  almost  entirely 
to  an  argument  over  the  McKinley  tariff  act,  for  which  Connell 
had  voted  in  Congress. 

Mrs.  Bryan  declares  she  regarded  this  first  debate,  which  took 
place  in  Lincoln,  as  "marking  an  important  epoch  in  Mr.  Bryan's 
life."  For  days  Bryan  worked,  and  perhaps  worried,  over  the 
speech  he  was  to  make.  Rather,  the  two  speeches  he  was  to 
make,  for  he  was  to  open  and  close  the  debate. 

The  night  came.  The  hall  was  packed.  Statisticians  will  tell 
you  that  before  the  speaking  began  the  house  was  about  evenly 
divided  between  the  young  orator  and  the  seasoned  congressman. 
And  there  are  many,  many  who  will  tell  you,  that  after  the 
speaking  was  over,  the  crowd  gave  a  mighty  demonstration  for 
the  "Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte"  who  had  weaved  a  word  pattern, 
now  gentle  and  full  of  simile,  now  virile  and  full  of  impassioned 
pleading,  now  a  quotation  from  the  Scriptures,  now  a  passage 
from  one  of  his  favorite  authors,  now  a  metaphor  chosen  from 


"BOY  ORATOR  OF  THE  PLATTE"  69 

the  field,  the  garden,   the  nursery,   and  ever  and  always,  the 
fervent  pleading  for  the  common  man  and  his  weal. 

Eleven  such  debates  were  held  in  strategic  points  in  the  dis- 
trict. In  addition,  Bryan  visited  every  city  and  village  in  the 
territory  and  spoke  about  eighty  times.  On  the  night  of  his 
eleventh  and  last  debate  with  Connell,  Bryan,  who  had  always 
had  friendly  relations  with  his  opponent,  presented  him  with  a 
copy  of  Gray's  "Elegy." 

Following  are  extracts  from  the  remarks  he  made  on  that 
occasion. 

"Mr.  Connell,  we  now  bring  to  a  close  this  series  of  debates 
which  was  arranged  by  our  committees.  I  am  glad  that  we  have 
been  able  to  conduct  these  discussions  in  a  courteous  and  friend- 
ly manner.  If  I  have  in  any  way  offended  you  in  word  or  deed 
I  offer  apology  and  regret,  and  as  freely  forgive.  I  desire  to 
present  you  in  remembrance  of  these  pleasant  meetings  this  little 
volume,  because  it  contains,  Gray's  'Elegy/  and  in  perusing  it 
I  trust  you  will  find  as  much  pleasure  and  profit  as  I  have  found. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  touching  tributes  to  humble 
life  that  literature  contains.  Grand  in  its  sentiments  and  sub- 
lime in  its  simplicity,  we  may  both  find  in  it  a  solace  in  victory 
or  defeat.  If  success  should  crown  your  efforts  in  this  campaign, 
and  it  should  be  your  lot,  'The  applause  of  listening  senates  to 
command/  and  I  am  left — 

'A  youth  to  fortune  and  to  fame  unknown/ 
forget  not  us  who  in  the  common  walks  of  life  perform  our  part, 
but  in  the  hour  of  your  triumph  recall  the  verse: 
'Let  not  ambition  mock  their  useful  toil, 
Their  homely  joys  and  destiny  obscure; 
Nor  grandeur  hear  with  a  disdainful  smile, 
The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor/ 

.  .  .  But  whether  the  palm  of  victory  is  given  to  you  or 


70  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

to  me,  let  us  remember  those  of  whom  the  poet  says : 
'Far  from  the  madding  crowd's  ignoble  strife, 
Their  sober  wishes  never  learned  to  stray ; 
Along  the  cool  sequestered  vale  of  life 

They  kept  the  noiseless  tenor  of  their  way.' 

"These  are  the  ones  most  likely  to  be  forgotten  by  the  gov- 
ernment. When  the  poor  and  weak  cry  out  for  relief  they,  too, 
often  hear  no  answer  but  'The  echo  of  their  cry/  while  the  rich, 
the  strong,  the  powerful,  are  given  an  attentive  ear.  .  .  .  The 
safety  of  our  farmers  and  our  laborers  is  not  in  special  legisla- 
tion, but  in  equal  and  just  laws  that  bear  alike  on  every  man. 
The  great  masses  of  our  people  are  interested,  not  in  getting 
their  hands  into  other  people's  pockets,  but  in  keeping  the  hands 
of  other  people  out  of  their  pockets." 

When  the  votes  were  counted  Bryan  was  found  to  have  won 
the  battle  by  a  plurality  of  6,713.  And  his  personal  campaign 
expenses,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  toured  the  entire  district, 
are  said  to  have  been  only  $400. 

About  this  time,  Bryan  wishing  to  give  the  maximum  of  time 
and  attention  to  the  Congressional  duties  that  were  soon  to  be 
his,  retired  from  the  practice  of  law  although  he  still  retained 
an  affiliation  with  his  firm. 

When  the  thirty-year  old  Nebraskan  took  his  seat  in  Congress 
that  Monday  in  December,  1891,  a  cross  section  of  the  record  of 
some  of  his  famous  contemporaries  reveals  this  information. 

Benjamin  Harrison  was  President.  Theodore  Roosevelt  was 
Civil  Service  commissioner  in  Washington.  William  H.  Taft 
was  there,  too,  as  Solicitor-General  for  the  United  States. 
Warren  G.  Harding  was  getting  out  his  paper  in  Marion,  Ohio  ; 
Woodrow  Wilson  was  lecturing  to  his  classes  on  politics  and 
jurisprudence  at  Princeton  university;  Charles  E.  Hughes  was 
practicing  law  in  New  York  city.     So  was  Grover  Cleveland. 


'Jill 

p8W     '  J 

■#     :        .        '^fjjp 

L^  -  i,  j 

^^H 

Iff 

tB 

/plasty    Wa^^oL    r&uyt 


P.    &   A.    photo. 


His  Favorite  Portrait — Mrs.  Bryan  from  a  picture  taken  about  1900. 


©  P.    &    A.    photo. 

Early  Lincoln  Days— The  first  home  in  Lincoln,  Neb.,  taken  about  1896. 


"BOY  ORATOR  OF  THE  PLATTE"  73 

Elihu  Root  was  head  of  the  New  York  bar.    And  James  M.  Cox 
was  a  little  boy  out  in  Ohio. 

Right  at  the  beginning  of  the  52nd  Congress,  we  are 
reminded  once  again,  of  Bryan's  statement  that  he  was  "a  child 
of  fortune  from  birth/'  For  the  young  Congressman  from 
Nebraska  met  his  old  friend  William  M.  Springer,  the  veteran 
representative  of  an  Illinois  district,  who  had  never  forgotten 
the  way  the  college-boy,  Bryan,  had  stumped  for  him  back  in 
the  days  when  William  Jennings  was  at  Jacksonville. 

Springer  was  hopeful  of  becoming  speaker  of  the  House. 
Bryan  voted  for  him  in  the  speakership  caucus.  He  lost  to 
Congressman  Crisp.  Bryan  voted  for  Crisp  in  the  House.  The 
speaker  appointed  the  defeated  Springer  as  chairman  of  the  ways 
and  means  committee.  And  Springer,  remembering  the  debt  of 
gratitude  he  owed  Bryan,  and  remembering  also  the  flair  for 
oratory  that  had  already  begun  to  be  evidenced  back  in  Jackson- 
ville, and  recognizing  his  talent,  gave  him  a  place  on  that  impor- 
tant committee. 

There  was  hot  criticism  of  this  move.  Veterans  in  the  House 
took  it  ill  that  a  youngster  with  no  experience  should  be  given 
this  honor. 

The  position  gave  Bryan  an  early  opportunity  to  win  a  name 
and  a  great  deal  of  fame  for  himself,  in  his  first  term,  by  deliver- 
ing a  spectacular  speech  on  the  tariff  and  free  wool. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  session  Springer's  "popgun" 
tariff  bills  got  nowhere.  The  Democrats  didn't  like  them;  the 
Republicans  laughed  at  them. 

Presently  came  a  great  day,  March  16,  1892.  One  by  one 
the  Democrats  got  up  full  of  enthusiasm,  made  their  speeches, 
were  worn  down  by  the  sarcasm  of  Congressman  Reed,  and  con- 
fused by  the  sharp  questions  of  the  others.  Speaker  Crisp  was 
desperate. 


74  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Almost  completely  routed,  the  Democrats  finally  sent  young 
Bryan  into  the  thick  of  the  fray.  He  was  a  likable  chap ;  already 
his  personality  had  won  for  him  many  friends;  he  had  a  good 
voice  and  he  knew  how  to  use  it.  Above  all,  his  whole  soul 
seemed  to  be  wrapped  up  in  this  question.  So  they  sent  him  in. 
"The  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte,"  they  called  him  around  Wash- 
ington when  they  wanted  to  make  fun  of  him,  and  Bryan  was 
conscious  of  their  mockery.  Fourteen  years  later,  in  a  speech  dur- 
ing a  campaign,  he  confessed:  "When  you  first  knew  me  they 
called  me,  in  derision,  'The  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte/  But  I  have 
outlived  that  title." 

So  now,  the  "boy  orator"  plunged  into  the  fight  that  March 
day. 

Reed  let  loose  his  sarcasm.  Bryan  was  unperturbed.  Others 
let  fall  their  shafts.  Bryan  picked  them  up  and  sent  them  back. 
When  the  speech  was  over  his  own  partisans  crowded  about 
him  in  a  frenzy  of  delight.  His  opponents  crossed  the  room 
to  shake  his  hand  and  congratulate  him. 

More  than  one  hundred  thousand  copies  of  the  speech  were 
circulated  by  Congress.  Bryan's  reputation  grew;  word  of  him 
began  to  penetrate  into  national  consciousness. 

Here  follow  a  few  of  the  high  spots  of  that  speech: 

"The  reason  why  I  believe  in  putting  raw  material  upon  the 
free  list  is  because  any  tax  imposed  upon  raw  material  must 
at  last  be  taken  from  the  consumer  of  the  manufactured  article. 
You  can  impose  no  tax  for  the  benefit  of  the  producer  of  raw 
material  which  does  not  find  its  way  through  the  various  forms 
of  manufactured  product,  and  at  last  press  with  accumulated 
weight  upon  the  person  who  uses  the  finished  product. 

"Another  reason  for  believing  that  raw  material  should  be 
upon  the  free  list  is  because  that  is  the  only  method  by  which 
one  business  can  be  favored  without  injury  to  another.    We  are 


"BOY  ORATOR  OF  THE  PLATTE"  75 

not,  in  that  case,  imposing  a  tax  for  the  benefit  of  the  manu- 
facturer, but  we  are  simply  saying  to  the  manufacturer,  'We 
will  not  impose  any  burden  to  you/  When  we  give  to  the 
manufacturer  free  raw  material  and  free  machinery,  we  give 
to  him,  I  think,  all  the  encouragement  which  a  people  acting 
under  a  free  government  like  ours  can  legitimately  give  to  an 
industry. 

"It  is  in  the  record  that  protection  is  responsible  for  the 
fact  that  sheep  today  produce  more  wool  than  they  used  to. 
I  have  often  thought  how  perplexed  the  sheep  must  have  been 
after  the  passage  of  the  last  bill,  when  they  got  together  and 
consulted  among  themselves  as  to  how  they  were  going  to 
increase  the  amount  of  their  wool,  now  that  the  tariff  had  made 
it  necessary. 

"But  nobody  has  said  to  this  House  that  protection  would 
reduce  the  price  of  pasturage  in  this  country,  nor  has  anybody 
claimed  that  it  would  so  moderate  the  climate  as  to  do  away 
with  the  necessity  for  winter  feeding.  The  theory  upon  which 
this  is  justified  might  as  well  be  met  here  as  anywhere;  and  I 
want  to  state,  as  emphatically  as  words  can  state  it,  that  I  con- 
sider it  as  false  in  economy  and  vicious  in  policy  to  attempt  to 
raise  at  a  high  price  in  this  country  that  which  we  can  purchase 
abroad  at  a  low  price  in  exchange  for  the  products  of  our  toil. 

"And  that  is  the  theory  of  our  friends.  When  we  buy  some- 
thing, we  buy  with  the  results  of  our  toil ;  and  they  tell  us  that 
we  must  not  so  arrange  the  laws  of  this  country  that  we  can 
buy  a  great  deal,  but  that  we  must  so  arrange  them  as  to  make 
us  work  just  as  long  as  possible  upon  every  piece  of  work  we 
undertake.  It  is  the  old  theory — 'The  maximum  of  toil  and 
minimum  of  product.'  If  this  is  the  true  principle,  then  discard 
your  riding  cultivators,  go  back  to  the  crooked  stick,  and  let 


76  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

us  plow  in  such  a  way  that  all  the  people  of  this  country  can 
find  employment  in  plowing  alone. 

"I  therefore  denounce  as  fallacious,  as  unworthy  of  considera- 
tion, the  only  reason  that  can  be  given  in  support  of  the  tariff 
on  wool,  as  a  protective  tariff  and  for  protective  purposes. 

:fc        :js        s^        Jfc        :jc 

"I  am  not  objecting  to  a  tariff  for  revenue.  If  it  were  pos- 
sible to  arrange  a  system  just  as  I  believe  it  ought  to  be  ar- 
ranged, I  would  collect  one  part  of  our  revenues  for  the  support 
of  the  Federal  Government  from  internal  taxes  on  whiskey  and 
tobacco.  These  are  luxuries  and  may  well  be  taxed.  I  would 
collect  another  part  from  a  tariff  levied  upon  imported  articles, 
with  raw  material  on  the  free  list — the  lowest  duties  upon  the 
necessities  of  life  and  the  highest  duties  upon  the  luxuries  of 
life.  And  then  I  should  collect  another  part  of  the  revenues 
from  a  graduated  income  tax  upon  the  wealth  of  this  country. 

"But  I  am  not  complaining  at  this  time  of  a  revenue  tariff. 
What  I  denounce  is  a  protective  tariff,  levied  purely  and  solely 
for  the  purpose  of  protection.  It  is  false  economy  and  the  most 
vicious  political  principle  that  has  ever  cursed  this  country. 

"I  have  said  that  the  purpose  of  the  protective  tariff  is  to 
transfer  money  from  one  man's  pocket  to  another  man's  pocket. 
I  want  to  show  to  you  and  to  this  committee  that  it  is  the  only 
purpose  a  protective  tariff  can  possibly  have.  Why  do  you 
impose  a  tariff?  You  impose  it  upon  the  theory  that  you  can 
not  produce  in  this  country  the  article  which  you  protect  as 
cheaply  as  it  can  be  produced  abroad;  and  you  put  the  tariff 
on  that  article  in  order  that  the  price  of  the  article  may  be  so 
much  increased  that  American  manufacturers  can  afford  to 
produce  it.  You  mean  that  the  man  who  buys  that  article  shall 
pay  into  the  public  treasury  the  tariff  upon  the  article,  and  you 


"BOY  ORATOR  OF  THE  PLATTE"  77 

expect  that  this,  together  with  the  price,  will  be  sufficient  to 
protect  somebody  else. 

***** 

"I  submit  this  proposition :  Either  a  tariff  is  needed  or  it  is 
not  needed.  If  a  tariff  is  needed  it  is  in  order  to  add  the  amount 
of  the  tariff  to  the  price  of  the  home  article  to  enable  the  Ameri- 
can manufacturer  to  compete  with  the  foreign.  If  it  is  not 
needed,  who  is  going  to  justify  it?  Now,  which  horn  of  the 
dilemma  will  you  take?  Will  you  say  that  this  tariff  is  needed 
and  used;  or  will  you  say  it  is  not  needed  and  ought  to  be 
abolished? 

3fC  5ft  5JC  2$C  3JC 

"Whenever  you  see  the  government,  by  operation  of  law, 
send  a  dollar  singing  down  into  one  man's  pocket,  you  must 
remember  that  the  government  has  brought  it  crying  up  out 
of  some  other  man's  pocket.  You  might  just  as  well  try  to 
raise  a  weight  with  a  lever  without  fulcrum  as  to  try  to  help 
some  particular  industry  by  means  of  taxation  without  placing 
the  burden  upon  the  consumer. 

"Back  in  Illinois  when  we  were  repairing  a  rail  fence,  we 
would  sometimes  find  a  corner  down  pretty  low  in  the  ground, 
and  not  wanting  to  tear  down  the  fence,  we  would  raise  that 
fence  corner  and  put  a  new  ground  chunk  under  it.  How  did 
we  do  it?  We  took  a  rail,  put  one  end  of  it  under  the  fence 
corner,  then  laid  down  a  ground  chunk  for  a  fulcrum.  Then 
we  would  go  off  to  the  end  of  the  rail  and  bear  down ;  up  would 
go  the  fence  corner — but  does  anybody  suppose  there  was  no 
pressure  on  that  fulcrum? 

"That,  my  friends,  illustrates  just  the  operation,  as  I  con- 
ceive it,  of  a  protective  tariff.  You  want  to  raise  an  infant 
industry,  for  instance;  what  do  you  do?  You  take  a  protective 
tariff  for  a  lever,  and  put  one  end  of  it  under  the  infant  industry 


78  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

that  is  to  be  raised.  You  look  around  for  some  good-natured 
consumer  and  lay  him  down  for  a  ground  chunk ;  then  you  bear 
down  on  the  rail  and  up  goes  the  infant  industry,  but  down  goes 
the  ground  chunk  into  the  ground." 

It  was  getting  late  now,  and  Bryan  paused  to  glance  up  at 
the  clock.  Spirited  cries  of  "Go  on,  go  on"  urged  him  to  con- 
tinue. 

"If  it  is  difficult  to  defend  this  on  principle,  it  is  equally 
difficult  to  defend  it  as  a  policy.  I  make  this  assertion,  that  if 
it  is  wise  to  appropriate  money  out  of  the  public  treasury  to 
aid  a  private  enterprise,  then  it  is  wiser  for  a  town  than  for  a 
county.  It  is  wiser  for  a  county  than  for  a  state.  For  a  Congress 
of  restricted  and  delegated  powers,  whose  members  are  far 
removed  from  the  people,  it  is  most  unwise  of  all  to  vote  away 
the  public  money  for  private  purposes.  So  that  if  that  policy  is 
wise  at  all,  this  is  the  last  place  to  apply  the  principle. 

"We  would  not  dare  to  trust  that  policy  in  our  county  or 
town.  Why  would  you  not  trust  it  at  home?  Because  you 
know  that  there  would  go  before  that  council  or  before  the 
county  commissioners,  only  the  men  who  want  something,  only 
those  men  and  their  paid  attorneys  would  go  there  to  represent 
the  great  advantage  that  the  proposed  industry  would  be  to 
the  community,  while  the  other  side  would  never  be  heard." 

Another  glance  at  the  clock,  and  more  yells  to  "Go  on." 

"I  want  to  say  that  it  is  as  difficult  to  defend  the  necessity 
for  a  tariff  as  it  is  to  defend  its  principle  or  its  policy.  And 
this  brings  me  to  another  contradiction  which  we  often  find  in 
the  arguments  of  our  Republican  friends.  If  you  ask  them  why 
they  need  a  tariff  they  at  once  tell  you  that  we  pay  so  much 
better  wages  in  this  country  than  are  paid  abroad  that  we  can 
not  compete,  and  that  until  we  are  willing  to  reduce  the  wages 
of  our  workingmen  we  never  can  compete. 


"BOY  ORATOR  OF  THE  PLATTE"  79 

"Now,  to  an  Untutored  mind/  such  as  we  are  told  new 
members  possess,  it  would  seem  that  if  you  need  protection  to 
labor  in  this  country  because  labor  is  higher,  that  idea  is  hardly 
consistent,  upon  the  Republican  theory,  with  a  cheaper  product. 
Yet  the  gentleman  who  yesterday  told  you  that  we  must 
have  a  tariff  to  protect  the  laboring  men  in  this  country  told 
you  that  the  laboring  men  of  this  country  were  producing 
articles  cheaper  than  the  laboring  men  of  other  countries. 

***** 

"Mr.  Chairman,  the  laborer  has  been  used  as  a  catspaw  to 
draw  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for  the  manufacturer.  The  manu- 
facturer comes  here  and  pleads  for  a  protective  tariff  in  order 
that  he  may  give  employment  with  remunerative  prices  to  labor. 
You  give  him  the  protection  he  asks;  you  make  him  a  trustee 
for  the  benefit  of  his  employe ;  you  give  to  that  employe  no  law 
by  which  he  can  enforce  his  trust.  The  manufacturer  goes  back 
to  his  factory  and  puts  in  his  pocket  the  bonus  you  have  given 
him.  And  then  the  employe  pleads,  and  pleads  in  vain,  for  his 
portion  of  the  promised  benefits. 

"I  will  tell  you  a  story.  A  white  boy  said  to  a  colored  boy, 
'Let's  go  into  cahoots  and  go  a  coon  hunting;  you  furnish  the 
dog  and  climb  the  tree,  and  I'll  do  the  hollering.'  They  went. 
The  white  boy  hollered;  the  colored  boy  furnished  the  dog  and 
climbed  the  tree.  They  caught  three  coons.  When  they  came 
to  divide  the  white  boy  took  them  all.  The  colored  boy  asked, 
'What  am  I  going  to  have?'  'Why,'  said  the  white  boy,  'you 
get  the  cahoots.' 

"Now,  the  manufacturer  has  been  making  just  such  combi- 
nation of  partnership  with  his  employe.  The  manufacturer  says 
to  his  workman,  'You  come  on  and  furnish  the  dog  and  climb 
the  tree;  you  bring  out  the  votes;  and  I  will  do  the  talking.' 
They  get  their  coons — they  have  been  getting  them.     But  the 


80  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

workmen  have  been  compelled  to  put  up  with  'cahoots/  Yes, 
and  when  the  employe  asks  for  the  higher  wages  that  were 
promised  him  last  year,  you  find  Pinkerton  detectives  stationed 
to  keep  him  off  and  foreigners  brought  in  to  supply  his  place. 

"Now,  there  are  two  arguments  which  I  have  never  heard 
advanced  in  favor  of  protection ;  but  they  are  the  best  arguments. 
Why  not  say  to  the  farmer,  'Yes,  of  course  you  lose;  but  does 
not  the  Bible  say,  "It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive" — 
and  if  you  suffer  some  inconvenience,  just  look  back  over  your 
life  and  you  will  find  that  your  happiest  moments  were  enjoyed 
when  you  were  giving  something  to  somebody,  and  the  most 
unpleasant  moments  were  when  you  were  receiving.  These 
manufacturers  are  self-sacrificing.  They  are  willing  to  take  the 
lesser  part  and  the  more  unpleasant  business  of  receiving,  and 
leave  to  you  the  greater  joy  of  giving/ 

"Why  do  they  not  take  the  other  theory,  which  is  borne  out 
by  history — that  all  nations  which  have  grown  strong,  powerful, 
and  influential,  just  as  individuals,  have  done  it  through  hard- 
ship, toil  and  sacrifice,  and  that  after  they  have  become  wealthy 
they  have  been  enervated,  they  have  gone  to  decay  through  the 
enjoyment  of  luxury,  and  that  the  great  advantage  of  the  pro- 
tective system  is  that  it  goes  around  among  the  people  and 
gathers  up  their  surplus  earnings  so  that  they  will  not  be  ener- 
vated or  weakened,  so  that  no  legacy  of  evil  will  be  left  to  their 
children.  Their  surplus  earnings  are  collected  up,  and  the  great 
mass  of  our  people  are  left  strong,  robust  and  hearty.  These 
earnings  are  garnered  and  put  into  the  hands  of  just  as  few 
people  as  possible,  so  that  the  injury  will  be  limited  in  extent. 
And  they  say,  'Yes,  of  course ;  of  course ;  it  makes  dudes  of  our 
sons,  and  it  does,  perhaps,  compel  us  to  buy  foreign  titles  for 
our  daughters,  but  of  course  if  the  great  body  of  the  people 


"BOY  ORATOR  OF  THE  PLATTE"  81 

are  benefited,  as  good  patriotic  citizens  we  ought  not  to  refuse 
to  bear  the  burden/ 

•I*         *i*         1*         *P         *•* 

"When  some  young  man  selects  a  young  woman  who  is  will- 
ing to  trust  her  future  to  his  strong  right  arm,  and  they  start 
to  build  a  little  home,  that  home  which  is  the  unit  of  society 
and  upon  which  our  government  and  our  prosperity  must  rest; 
when  they  start  to  build  this  home,  and  the  man  who  sells  the 
lumber  reaches  out  his  hand  to  collect  a  tariff  upon  that;  the 
man  who  sells  paints  and  oils  wants  a  tariff  upon  them;  the 
man  who  furnishes  the  carpets,  tablecloths,  knives,  forks,  dishes, 
furniture,  spoons,  everything  that  enters  into  the  construction 
and  operation  of  that  home — when  all  these  hands,  I  say,  are 
stretched  out  from  every  direction  to  lay  their  blighting  weight 
upon  that  cottage,  and  the  Democratic  party  says,  'Hands  off, 
and  let  that  home  industry  live/  it  is  protecting  the  grandest 
home  industry  that  this  or  any  other  nation  ever  had. 

-f»  2JC  »;>  JfC  JfC 

"It  is  said  that  when  Ulysses  was  approaching  the  island  of 
the  Sirens,  warned  beforehand  of  their  seductive  notes,  he  put 
wax  in  the  ears  of  his  sailors  and  then  strapped  himself  to  the 
mast  of  the  ship,  so  that,  hearing,  he  could  not  heed.  So  our 
friends  upon  the  other  side  tell  us  that  there  is  depression  in 
agriculture,  and  a  cry  has  come  up  from  the  people;  but  the 
leaders  of  your  party  have,  as  it  were,  filled  with  wax  the  ears 
of  their  associates,  and  then  have  so  tied  themselves  to  the  pro- 
tected interests,  by  promises  made  before  the  election,  that,  hear- 
ing, they  can  not  heed. 

"Out  in  the  west  the  people  have  been  taught  to  worship 
this  protection.  It  has  been  a  god  to  many  of  them.  But  I 
believe,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  the  time  for  worship  has  passed. 
It  is  said  that  there  is  in  Australia  what  is  known  as  the  cannibal 


82  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

tree.  It  grows  not  very  high,  and  spreads  out  its  leaves  like 
great  arms  until  they  touch  the  ground.  In  the  top  is  a  little 
cup,  and  in  that  cup  a  mysterious  kind  of  honey.  Some  of  the 
natives  worship  the  tree,  and  on  their  festive  days  they  gather 
around  it,  singing  and  dancing,  and  then,  as  a  part  of  their 
ceremony,  they  select  one  from  their  number,  and,  at  the  point 
of  spears,  drive  him  up  over  the  leaves  into  the  tree;  he  drinks 
of  the  honey,  he  becomes  intoxicated  as  it  were,  and  then  those 
arms,  as  if  instinct  with  life,  rise  up ;  they  encircle  him  in  their 
folds,  and,  as  they  crush  him  to  death,  his  companions  stand 
around  shouting  and  singing  for  joy.  Protection  has  been  our 
cannibal  tree,  and  as  one  after  another  of  our  farmers  has  been 
driven  by  the  force  of  circumstances  upon  that  tree  and  has 
been  crushed  within  its  folds,  his  companions  have  stood  around 
and  shouted,  'Great  is  protection!' 

#     *     *     *     * 

"Thomas  Jefferson,  that  greatest  of  statesmen,  and  most  suc- 
cessful of  politicians,  tersely  expressed  the  true  purpose  of  gov- 
ernment when  he  said : 

"  'With  all  these  blessings  that  are  necessary  to  make  us  a 
happy  and  prosperous  people,  still  one  thing  more;  a  wise  and 
frugal  government  which  shall  restrain  men  from  injuring  one 
another;  shall  leave  them  otherwise  free  to  regulate  their  own 
pursuits  of  industry  and  improvement,  and  shall  not  take  from 
the  mouth  of  labor  the  bread  it  has  earned/ 

"That  is  the  inspiration  of  the  Democratic  party.  If  it  comes, 
Mr.  Chairman,  into  power  in  all  the  departments  of  this  govern- 
ment it  will  not  destroy  industry;  it  will  not  injure  labor;  but 
it  will  save  to  the  men  who  produce  the  wealth  of  the  country 
a  larger  portion  of  that  wealth. 

"The  day  will  come  when  those  who  annually  gather  about 
this  Congress  seeking  to  use  the  taxing  power  for  private  pur- 


"BOY  ORATOR  OF  THE  PLATTE"  83 

pose  will  find  their  occupation  gone  and  the  members  of  Congress 
will  meet  here  to  pass  laws  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people. 
That  day  will  come,  and  in  that  day,  to  use  the  language  of 
another,  'Democracy  will  be  king.     Long  live  the  king/  " 

The  speech  was  done.  Senator  Burrows  of  Michigan,  who 
in  1908  was  to  be  temporary  chairman  of  the  Republican  Na- 
tional convention,  called  it  the  best  speech  on  the  tariff  he  had 
ever  heard.  Newspapers  of  all  political  complexions  termed  it 
a  masterpiece.  And  Congressman  William  L.  Wilson  of  West 
Virginia  was  so  impressed  with  Bryan  that  he  made  him  his 
chief  lieutenant  in  his  fight  the  following  year  over  the  Wilson 
tariff  bill. 

And  as  they  crowded  about  him,  after  the  speech,  they  still 
called  him  "The  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte,"  but  the  sting  of 
derision  was  gone  from  the  name. 


CHAPTER  VII 


The  Silver  Tongue  Talks  Silver 

Second  Campaign  for  Congress — Debates  with  Judge  Field — Wide 
Acquaintance — Wins  by  140  Votes — Beginnings  of  Silver — Con- 
ference of  '89— Western  States  Congress  of  '91— Anticipates 
Attack  on  Sherman  Law — State  Party  and  Bimetalic  League  Con- 
ventions— Fifty-third  Congress — Speech  Against  Unconstitutional 
Repeal  of  Sherman  Law — Lincoln  Homecoming — Speech  on 
Jefferson — Editorial  Staff,  Omaha  World-Herald. 

When  Bryan  returned  home  after  the  52nd  session  of  Con- 
gress, he  went  back  to  a  readjusted  political  territory.  For 
the  Nebraska  districts  had  been  reapportioned  so  that  Omaha 
was  eliminated  from  the  First  district,  and  the  district  in  its 
new  shape,  was  conceded  to  be  Republican  by  about  6,500.  Bryan 
easily  secured  the  nomination  and  began  his  campaign  fight 
against  Judge  A.  W.  Field,  who  also  was  a  Lincoln  man.  Judge 
Field  resigned  from  the  bench  and  was  confident  of  victory. 

Again  there  was  a  series  of  debates.  This  time  there  was 
much  bitterness  on  both  sides.  McKinley,  Foraker  and  others 
were  sent  into  Nebraska  to  aid  the  Republican  candidate.  Again 
Bryan  made  a  complete  tour  of  the  district. 

Judge  Field  was  able;  he  was  well  liked;  the  district  was 
strongly  Republican ;  and  he  was  an  old  time  resident  of  Lincoln, 
whereas  Bryan  had  lived  there  only  five  years. 

But  the  following  story  is  an  indication  of  Bryan's  aptitude 
for  friendship,  and  his  desire  to  know  more  and  still  more  people. 
It  was  the  morning  of  election  and  the  Commoner  drove  up  to 
the  polling  place  in  the  third  ward  in  Lincoln  just  as  a  crowd 
of  workingmen  had  come  there  to  vote.     All  the  men  jammed 

84 


THE  SILVER  TONGUE  TALKS  SILVER  85 

themselves  around  the  buggy  to  shake  Bryan  by  the  hand.    He 
called  them  all  by  name. 

Presently  Judge  Field's  buggy  drew  up.  But  the  only  per- 
sons he  seemed  to  know  personally  were  a  few  political  leaders. 
The  incident  was  typical. 

The  contest  was  so  close  that  both  sides  claimed  the  victory. 
It  was  not  until  several  days  after  the  election  that  the  official 
count  showed  that  Bryan  had  won  by  a  plurality  of  140  votes. 

Back  in  the  53rd  Congress  in  1893,  Bryan  was  reappointed 
on  the  ways  and  means  committee,  and  aided  Congressman  Wil- 
son in  the  preparation  of  his  tariff  bill.  His  particular  function 
was  to  serve  as  a  member  of  the  subcommittee  which  drafted 
the  income  tax  segment  of  the  bill.  He  spoke  in  defense  of  this 
phase  of  the  question,  and  later  defended  the  Wilson  bill. 

But  the  big  speech,  the  famous  speech  was,  of  course,  the 
one  he  made  in  opposition  to  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  law,  in  which  he  had  his  first  big  chance  to  advocate 
the  free  coinage  of  silver. 

To  get  the  full  significance  of  this  speech,  let  us  go  back 
a  bit  to  see  the  beginnings  of  Bryan's  espousal  of  the  cause  of 
free  silver. 

In  November,  1889,  St.  Louis  had  been  the  scene  of  a  Na- 
tional Silver  Conference  which  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bimetalic  league,  although  that  association  was  not  actually 
organized  until  May,  1892. 

As  we  have  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  Bryan  had  writ- 
ten the  money  question  plank  into  the  platform  of  the  Nebraska 
Democratic  party  in  1890,  at  the  convention  at  which  he  was 
nominated  for  Congress.  After  the  election  he  began  to  probe 
more  deeply  into  the  question. 

In  1891  he  attended  the  Western  States  commercial  congress 
in  Kansas  City  and  voted  for  free  coinage.     He  did  more  than 


86  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

that.  He  secured  the  adoption  of  a  declaration  stating  that  all 
legal  tender  money  of  the  United  States  should  be  made  a  full 
legal  tender  for  all  debts. 

That  same  year,  in  September,  as  a  member  of  the  committee 
on  resloutions  at  the  Democratic  state  convention,  he  secured 
the  adoption  of  a  free  silver  plank.  But  the  next  year  when  he 
attempted  to  have  a  similar  plank  made  part  of  the  platform  at 
the  state  convention  held  at  Omaha  to  select  delegates  to  the 
Democratic  National  convention,  he  was  defeated. 

That  convention  split  the  Democratic  party  in  Nebraska  into 
two  wings.  Bryan  and  his  adherents  opposed  the  nomination 
of  Cleveland  for  President  because  of  his  attitude  on  the  money 
question,  and  favored  Horace  Boies  of  Idaho.  Bryan  was  nomi- 
nated for  Congress  the  second  time,  on  the  day  before  the  meet- 
ing of  the  national  convention  on  a  silver  platform,  and  the 
silver  question  was  an  issue  of  that  campaign  which  he  won  by 
the  slim  margin  of  140. 

With  a  bit  of  prophecy  in  his  soul,  along  about  his  time, 
Bryan  began  to  fear  that  the  next  and  inevitable  move  of  the 
anti-free-silver  men  would  be  to  repeal  the  Sherman  bullion  pur- 
chasing act. 

So  all  during  that  second  Congressional  campaign  of  his  he 
took  a  copy  of  the  Sherman  law  with  him  as  he  stumped  his 
way  through  his  district.  He  pointed  out  the  likely  attempt  to 
have  its  unconditional  repeal  brought  about  and  he  pledged  him- 
self to  resist  such  action  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

He  was  a  good  political  prophet,  for  in  the  summer  of  1893 
President  Cleveland  called  an  extra  session  of  Congress  to  put 
through  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  law. 

While  the  repeal  bill  was  under  discussion  in  the  Senate, 
Bryan  went  as  a  delegate  to  the  Nebraska  Democratic  state  con- 
vention.   His  own  district  in  the  convention  was  a  friend  of  free 


THE  SILVER  TONGUE  TALKS  SILVER  87 

silver.  But  the  majority  sentiment  of  the  meeting  was  in  favor 
of  President  Cleveland's  policy. 

Bryan's  district  selected  him  as  its  member  for  the  com- 
mittee on  resolutions,  but  T.  J.  Mahoney  of  Omaha,  chairman 
of  the  convention,  refused  to  appoint  him.  One  silver  Democrat, 
Robert  Clegg,  did  win  a  place  on  the  committee,  however,  and 
he  brought  in  a  minority  report  for  a  silver  plank.  Thanks 
to  Clegg,  Bryan  got  the  floor  and  spoke  against  the  majority  re- 
port.   But  the  silver  plank  was  defeated  by  a  large  margin. 

Bryan  then  took  the  position  that  he  would  not  support  for 
president  an  advocate  of  the  gold  standard.  At  this  the  gold 
Democrats  construed  his  speech  as  an  indication  of  the  bolt  of 
his  faction. 

In  August  of  that  year  Bryan,  every  day  a  more  ardent 
free  silver  crusader,  attended  the  national  conference  of  the 
American  Bimetalic  league  held  in  Chicago.  When  there,  he 
served  on  the  resolutions  committee. 

All  of  which  in  sketchy  detail  is  an  indication  of  the  depth 
of  feeling  and  passion,  as  well  as  an  indication  of  the  informa- 
tion and  experience  which  Bryan  brought  to  the  question  that 
August  16th  afternoon  of  1893,  when  he  stood  up  in  the  House 
and  began  his  speech  that  was  to  project  him  one  step  nearer 
the  presidential  nomination  and  a  niche  in  the  world's  hall  of 
fame. 

All  of  the  House  and  most  of  the  Senate  were  there  listening 
to  him. 

Following  are  excerpts  from  that  vivid  speech : 

"Mr.  Speaker:  I  shall  accomplish  my  full  purpose  if  I  am 
able  to  impress  upon  the  members  of  the  house  the  far-reaching 
consequences  which  may  follow  our  action,  and  quicken  their  ap- 
preciation of  the  grave  responsibility  which  presses  upon  us. 
Historians  tell  us  that  the  victory  of  Charles  Martel  at  Tours 


88  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

determined  the  history  of  all  Europe  for  centuries.     It  was  a 

contest  'between  the  Crescent  and  the  Cross/  and  when,  on  that 

fateful  day,  the  Frankish  prince  drove  back  the  followers  of  Ab- 

derrabman  he  rescued  the  west  from    'the  all-destroying  grasp 

of  Islam,'    and  saved  to  Europe  its  Christian  civilization.     A 

greater  contest  than  Tours  is  here !  In  my  humble  judgment  the 

vote  of  this  House  on  the  subject  under  consideration  may  bring 

to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  to  all  mankind,  weal  or 

woe  beyond  the  power  of  language  to  describe  or  imagination  to 

conceive 

"Let  me  call  your  attention  briefly  to  the  advantage  of  bi- 

metalism.    It  is  not  claimed  that  by  the  use  of  two  metals  at  a 

fixed  ratio,  absolute  stability  can  be  secured.    We  only  contend 

that  thus  the  monetary  unit  will  become  more  stable  in  relation 

to  other  property  than  under  a  single  standard. 
*        *        *        *        $ 

"They  say  we  must  adopt  a  gold  standard  in  order  to  trade 
with  Europe.  Why  not  reverse  the  proposition  and  say  that 
Europe  must  resume  the  use  of  silver  in  order  to  trade  with  us  ? 
But  why  adopt  either  gold  or  silver  alone?  Why  not  adopt  both 
and  trade  with  both  gold-using  and  silver-using  countries?  The 
principle  of  bimetalism  is  established  upon  a  scientific  basis. 

"The  government  does  not  try  to  fix  the  purchasing  power 
of  the  dollar,  either  gold  or  silver.  It  simply  says,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Thomas  Jefferson :  'The  money  unit  shall  stand  upon 
the  two  metals/  and  then  allows  the  exchangeable  value  of  that 
unit  to  rise  or  fall  according  as  the  total  product  of  both  metals 
decreases  or  increases  in  proportion  to  the  demand  for  money. 
In  attempting  to  maintain  the  parity  between  the  two  metals  at  a 
fixed  ratio,  the  government  does  not  undertake  the  impossible. 

$  ijs  sfe  jjs  s£ 

"What  is  the  prospect  for  the  establishment  of  international 


Underwood   &   Underwood   photo. 


Bryan  at  his  desk — Taken  about  the  time  he  made  his  "Cross  of  Gold" 
speech  in  the  Chicago  Coliseum,  1896. 


THE  SILVER  TONGUE  TALKS  SILVER  91 

bimetalism  ?  I  would  be  glad  to  see  the  unlimited  coinage  of 
gold  and  silver  at  a  fixed  ratio  among  the  nations,  but  how  is 
such  an  agreement  to  be  secured?  The  gentleman  from  Mary- 
land (Mr.  Rayner)  says  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
law  will  bring  England  to  terms.  Is  it  impossible  to  extract  a 
lion's  teeth  without  putting  your  head  in  its  mouth?  Is  it  not 
a  dangerous  experiment  to  join  England  in  a  single  standard 
in  order  to  induce  her  to  join  us  in  a  double  standard?  Inter- 
national agreement  is  an  old  delusion  and  has  done  important 

duty  on  many  previous  occasions. 

*        $        *        $        $ 

"In  fixing  the  ratio  we  should  select  that  one  which  will 
secure  the  greatest  advantage  to  the  public  and  the  least  injus- 
tice. The  present  ratio,  in  my  judgment,  should  be  adopted. 
A  change  in  the  ratio  could  be  made  (as  in  1834)  by  reducing 
the  size  of  the  gold  dollar  or  by  increasing  the  size  of  the  silver 
dollar,  or  by  making  a  change  in  the  weight  of  both  dollars. 
A  larger  silver  dollar  would  help  the  creditor;  a  smaller  gold 
dollar  would  help  the  debtor.  It  is  not  just  to  do  either, 
but  if  a  change  must  be  made  the  benefit  should  be  given  to  the 
debtor  rather  than  to  the  creditor. 

"But  what  of  the  mine  owner's  profit? 

"When  we  see  a  wheel  of  fortune  with  twenty-four  paddles, 
see  those  paddles  sold  for  ten  cents  a  piece,  and  see  the  holder  of 
the  winning  paddle  draw  $2,  we  do  not  conclude  that  money 
can  be  profitably  invested  in  a  wheel  of  fortune.  We  know  that 
those  who  bought  expended  altogether  $2.40  on  the  turn  of  the 
wheel  and  that  the  man  who  won  only  received  $2;  but  our 
opponents  insist  upon  estimating  the  profits  of  silver  mining 
by  the  cost  of  the  winning  paddle.  It  is  strange  that  those  who 
watch  so  carefully  lest  the  silver  miner  shall  receive  more  for 


92  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

his  product  than  the  bare  cost  of  production  ignore  the  more 
fortunate  gold  miner. 

$  sfc  4*        •     *  * 

"To  recapitulate,  then,  there  is  not  enough  of  either  metal 
to  form  the  basis  for  the  world's  metallic  money;  both  metals 
must  therefore  be  used  as  full  legal  tender  primary  money. 
There  is  not  enough  of  both  metals  to  more  than  keep  pace 
with  the  increased  demand  for  money;  silver  can  not  be  re- 
tained in  circulation  as  a  part  of  the  world's  money  if  the  United 
States  abandons  it.  This  nation  must  therefore  either  retain 
the  present  law  or  make  further  provision  for  silver.  The  only 
rational  plan  is  to  use  both  gold  and  silver  at  some  ratio  with 
equal  privileges  at  the  mint.  No  change  in  the  ratio  can  be  made 
intelligently  until  both  metals  are  put  on  an  equality  at  the  pres- 
ent ratio.  The  present  radio  should  be  adopted  if  the  parity  can 
be  maintained;  and,  lastly,  it  can  be. 

"Some  of  the  advocates  of  a  gold  standard,  in  the  defense 
of  their  theory,  find  it  necessary  to  dispute  every  well-established 
principle  of  finance.  We  are  told  that  as  civilization  increases, 
credit  takes  the  place  of  money,  and  that  the  volume  of  real 
money  can  be  diminished  without  danger.  That  recalls  the  expe- 
rience of  the  man  who  conceived  the  idea  that  a  fish  could  be 
made  to  live  without  water.  As  the  story  goes,  he  put  a  herring, 
fresh  from  the  sea,  in  a  jar  of  salt  water.  By  removing  a  little 
every  morning  and  adding  rainwater  he  gradually  accustomed  it 
to  fresh  water.  Then  by  gradually  removing  fresh  water  he 
accustomed  it  to  air  and  finally  kept  it  in  a  cage  like  a  bird.  One 
day,  in  his  absence,  his  servant  placed  a  cup  of  water  in  the  cage 
in  order  that  the  fish  might  moisten  its  food.  But  alas,  when  the 
master  came  home  he  found  that  the  fish  had  thoughtlessly  put 
its  head  into  the  water  and  had  drowned. 


THE  SILVER  TONGUE  TALKS  SILVER  93 

"From  the  arguments  of  some  of  our  opponents  we  might 
be  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  time  would  come  when  money 
would  not  only  be  unnecessary  but  really  dangerous. 
***** 

"The  President  has  recommended  unconditional  repeal.  It  is 
not  sufficient  to  say  that  he  is  honest — so  were  the  mothers  who, 
with  misguided  zeal,  threw  their  children  into  the  Ganges.  The 
question  is  not,  'Is  he  honest?'  but  Ts  he  right?'  He  won  the 
confidence  of  the  toilers  of  this  country  because  he  taught  that 
Tublic  office  is  a  public  trust/  and  because  he  convinced  them 
of  his  courage  and  his  sincerity.  But  are  they  willing  to  say,  in 
the  language  of  Job,  'Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  him?' 
Whence  comes  this  irresistible  demand  for  unconditional  repeal? 
Are  not  the  representatives  here  as  near  the  people  and  as  apt 
to  know  their  wishes?  Whence  comes  the  demand?  Not  from  the 
workshop  and  the  farm,  not  from  the  workingmen  of  this  coun- 
try, who  create  its  wealth  in  time  of  peace  and  protect  its  flag 
in  time  of  war,  but  from  the  middlemen,  from  what  are  termed 
the  'business  interests/  and  largely  from  that  class  which  can 
force  Congress  to  let  it  issue  money  at  a  pecuniary  profit  to  itself 
if  silver  is  abandoned.  The  President  has  been  deceived.  He 
can  no  more  judge  the  wishes  of  the  great  mass  of  our  people 
by  the  expressions  of  these  men  than  he  can  measure  the  ocean's 

silent  depths  by  the  foam  upon  its  waves. 
***** 

"This  question  can  not  be  settled  by  typewritten  recom- 
mendations and  suggestions  made  by  boards  of  trade  and  sent 
broadcast  over  the  United  States.  It  can  only  be  settled  by  the 
great  mass  of  the  voters  of  this  country  who  stand  like  the  Rock 
of  Gibraltar  for  the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver. 

"There  are  thousands,  yes  tens  of  thousands,  aye,  even  mil 
lions,  who  have   not  yet   'bowed  the  knee   to  Baal/     Let  the 


94  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

President  take  courage.  Muehlbach  relates  an  incident  in  the  life 
of  the  great  military  hero  of  France.  At  Marengo  the  Man  of 
Destiny,  sad  and  disheartened,  thought  the  battle  lost.  He  called 
to  a  drummer  boy  and  ordered  him  to  beat  a  retreat.  The  lad 
replied : 

"  'Sire,  I  do  not  know  how.  Dessaix  has  never  taught  me 
a  retreat,  but  I  can  beat  a  charge.  I  can  beat  a  charge  that 
would  make  the  dead  fall  into  line!  I  beat  that  charge  at  the 
Bridge  of  Lodi;  I  beat  it  at  Mount  Tabor;  I  beat  it  at  the  Pyra- 
mids; Oh,  may  I  beat  it  here?' 

"The  charge  was  ordered,  the  battle  won,  and  Marengo  was 
added  to  the  victories  of  Napoleon. 

"Let  our  gallant  leader  draw  inspiration  from  the  street 
gamin  of  Paris.  In  the  face  of  an  enemy  proud  and  confident, 
the  President  has  wavered.  Engaged  in  the  battle  royal  between 
the  'money  power  and  the  common  people*  he  has  ordered  a 
retreat.    Let  him  not  be  dismayed. 

"He  has  won  greater  victories  than  Napoleon,  for  he  is  a 
warrior  who  has  conquered  without  a  sword.  He  restored  fidelity 
in  the  public  service;  he  converted  Democratic  hope  into  realiza- 
tion; he  took  up  the  banner  of  tariff  reform  and  carried  it  to 
triumph.  Let  him  continue  the  greater  fight  for  'the  gold  and 
silver  coinage  of  the  constitution/  to  which  three  national  plat- 
forms have  pledged  him.  Let  his  clarion  voice  call  the  party 
hosts  to  arms;  let  this  command  be  given,  and  the  air  will  re- 
sound with  the  tramp  of  men  scarred  in  a  score  of  battles  for  the 
people's  rights.  Let  this  command  be  given  and  this  Marengo 
will  be  our  glory  and  not  our  shame. 

"Well  has  it  been  said  by  the  senator  from  Missouri  (Mr. 
Vest)  that  we  have  come  to  the  parting  of  the  ways.  Today  the 
Democratic  party  stands  between  two  great  forces,  each  inviting 


THE  SILVER  TONGUE  TALKS  SILVER  95 

its  support.  On  the  one  side  stand  the  corporate  interests  of 
the  nation,  its  moneyed  institutions,  its  aggregations  of  wealth 
and  capital,  imperious,  arrogant,  compassionless.  They  demand 
special  legislation,  favors,  privileges,  and  immunities.  They 
can  subscribe  magnificently  to  campaign  funds;  they  can  strike 
down  opposition  with  their  all-pervading  influence,  and  to  those 
who  fawn  and  flatter,  bring  ease  and  plenty.  They  demand  that 
the  Democratic  party  shall  become  their  agent  to  execute  their 
merciless  decrees. 

"On  the  other  side  stands  that  unnumbered  throng  which  gave 
a  name  to  the  Democratic  party  and  for  which  it  has  assumed  to 
speak.  Work-worn  and  dust-begrimed,  they  make  their  sad 
appeal.  They  hear  of  average  wealth  increased  on  every  side 
and  feel  the  inequality  of  its  distribution.  They  see  an  over- 
production of  everything  desired  because  of  the  under-production 
of  the  ability  to  buy.  They  can  not  pay  for  loyalty  except  with 
their  suffrages,  and  can  only  punish  betrayal  with  their  con- 
demnation. Although  the  ones  who  most  deserve  the  fostering 
care  of  government,  their  cries  for  help  too  often  beat  in  vain 
against  the  outer  wall,  while  others  less  deserving  find  ready  ac- 
cess to  legislative  halls. 

"This  army,  vast,  and  daily  vaster  growing,  begs  the  party  to 
be  its  champion  in  the  present  conflict.  It  can  not  press  its 
claims  'mid  sounds  of  revelry.  Its  phalanxes  do  not  form  in 
grand  parade,  nor  has  it  gaudy  banners  floating  on  the  breeze. 
Its  battle  hymn  is  'Home,  Sweet  Home;'  its  war  cry,  'equality 
before  the  law/  To  the  Democratic  party,  standing  between  these 
two  irreconcilable  forces,  uncertain  to  which  side  to  turn,  and 
conscious  that  upon  its  choice  its  fate  depends,  come  the  words 
of  Israel's  second  law-giver:  'Choose  you  this  day  whom  ye 
will   serve/     What   will  the   answer  be?     Let   me  invoke  the 


96  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

memory  of  him  whose  dust  made  sacred  the  soil  of  Monticello 
when  he  joined — 

'The  dead  but  sceptered  sovereigns  who  still  rule 

Our  spirits  from  their  urns/ 
"He  was  called  a  demagogue  and  his  followers  a  mob,  but 
the  immortal  Jefferson  dared  to  follow  the  best  promptings 
of  his  heart.  He  placed  man  above  matter,  humanity  above  prop- 
erty, and,  spurning  the  bribes  of  wealth  and  power,  pleaded 
the  cause  of  the  common  people.  It  was  this  devotion  to  their 
interests  which  made  his  party  invincible  while  he  lived  and 
will  make  his  name  revered  while  history  endures.  And  what 
message  comes  to  us  from  the  Hermitage?  When  a  crisis  like 
the  present  arose  and  the  national  bank  of  his  day  sought  to 
control  the  politics,  of  the  nation,  God  raised  up  an  Andrew 
Jackson,  who  had  the  courage  to  grapple  with  that  great  enemy, 
and  by  overthrowing  it,  made  himself  the  idol  of  the  people 
and  reinstated  the  Democratic  party  in  public  confidence.  What 
will  the  decision  be  today?  The  Democratic  party  has  won  the 
greatest  success  in  its  history;  standing  upon  this  victory- 
crowned  summit,  will  it  turn  its  face  to  the  rising  or  the  setting 
sun?  Will  it  choose  blessings  or  cursings,  life  or  death — which? 
Which?" 

*f*  T*  H*  T*  ^F 

When  Bryan  finished  speaking  he  was  picked  up  by  his 
friends  and  by  his  enemies  alike,  and  borne  around  the  hall  on  the 
shoulders  of  enthusiastic  men  who  appreciated  a  dynamic  speech 
whether  they  subscribed  to  it  or  not.  And  nobody  disputed  that 
it  was  the  greatest  speech  of  that  extra  session. 

Other  issues  which  brought  forth  Bryan's  voice  in  the  House 
during  the  53rd  Congress  included  advocacy  of  revision  of  the 
jury  system  so  as  to  permit  less  than  unanimous  verdict  in  civil 
cases ;  support  of  the  anti-opium  bill ;  espousal  of  the  plan  to  elect 


THE  SILVER  TONGUE  TALKS  SILVER  97 

United  States  senators  by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people ;  and  opposi- 
tion to  the  railroad  pooling  bill. 

In  the  spring  of  1894  he  announced  he  would  not  be  a  candi- 
date for  re-election  to  Congress  and  a  bit  later  he  became  the 
unanimous  convention  choice  of  the  Nebraska  Democrats  for 
United  States  Senator,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  many  of  them 
disagreed  with  him  on  the  free  silver  question. 

Twice  during  the  campaign  he  debated  against  John  M. 
Thurston,  the  leading  Republican  candidate;  once  at  Lincoln, 
once  at  Omaha.  The  tariff  was  the  bone  of  contention,  Bryan 
defending  the  Wilson  tariff  bill  which  he  had  helped  to  frame. 
At  Lincoln,  members  of  his  enthusiastic  audience  carried  him 
from  the  platform  at  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting,  and  bore 
him  along  down  the  street  where  hundreds  of  "overflow"  admir- 
ers awaited  him.  Bryan  made  a  canvass  of  the  state.  But 
Thurston  was  elected,  and  Bryan  became  a  private  citizen. 

But  a  mighty  busy  one. 

For  when  Congress  had  adjourned,  the  "Boy  Orator  of  the 
Platte,"  on  his  homeward  journey,  had  stopped  off  at  six  or  seven 
cities  to  deliver  lectures.  In  fact,  this  was  the  beginning  of  his 
career  as  a  lecturer,  per  se. 

He  arrived  home  in  Lincoln  on  the  19th  of  March,  1895,  his 
thirty-fifth  birthday  and  found  the  town  out  to  do  him  hom- 
age. The  Jefferson  club  gave  him  a  reception.  They  packed 
the  opera  house  that  night  when  Bryan,  the  Commoner,  not  the 
office  holder  or  the  office  seeker,  was  greeted  by  thousands.  The 
theme  of  his  address  that  evening  was,  "Thomas  Jefferson  still 
lives." 

Jefferson  had  long  been  a  hero  of  his.     Of  him  he  said: 

"Let  us,  then,  with  the  courage  of  Andrew  Jackson,  apply  to 
present  conditions  the  principles  taught  by  Thomas  Jefferson — 
Thomas  Jefferson,  the  greatest  constructive  statesman  whom  the 


98  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

world  has  ever  known ;  the  grandest  warrior  who  ever  battled  for 
human  liberty!  He  gave  apt  expression  to  the  hopes  that  had 
nestled  in  the  heart  of  man  for  ages  and  he  set  forth  the  prin- 
ciples upon  whose  strength  all  popular  government  must  rest. 
In  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence  he  proclaimed  the 
principle  with  which  there  is,  without  which  there  can  not  be, 
'a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people/ 
When  he  declared  that  'all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights;  that 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and 
that  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among 
men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned/ he  comprehended  all  that  lies  between  the  Alpha  and 
Omega  of  democracy. 

''Alexander  'wept  for  other  worlds  to  conquer'  after  he  had 
carried  his  victorious  banner  throughout  the  then  known  world. 
Napoleon  'rearranged  the  map  of  Europe  with  his  sword'  amid 
the  lamentations  of  those  by  whose  blood  he  was  exalted;  but 
when  these  and  other  military  heroes  are  forgotten  and  their 
achievements  disappear  in  the  cycle's  sweep  of  years,  children 
will  still  lisp  the  name  of  Jefferson,  and  free  men  will  ascribe 
due  praise  to  him  who  filled  the  kneeling  subject's  heart  with 
hope  and  bade  him  stand  erect — a  sovereign  among  his  peers." 

Busy,  too,  he  was  with  his  writing.  For  on  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember, 1894,  Bryan  took  a  place  as  chief  of  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  Omaha  World-Herald,  and  held  it  until  the  presidential 
campaign  of  1896;  in  fact  he  went  to  the  Republican  National 
Convention  of  that  year  as  a  newspaper  correspondent. 

Returning  to  Lincoln  in  the  early  spring  of  1895,  Bryan  had 
tentative  plans  for  returning  to  his  practice  of  law  and  confining 
himself  to  that,  together  with  his  editorial  work.  But  the  Demo- 
cratic party  needed  him.    The  silver  question  needed  him. 


THE  SILVER  TONGUE  TALKS  SILVER  99 

For  the  preceding  two  years  Bryan  had  been  having  friendly 
relations  with  the  Populist  party,  with  which  he  had  once  advo- 
cated affiliation  by  the  Democratic  party.  In  1893,  when  it 
became  apparent  that  no  Democrat  could  be  elected  to  the  leg- 
islature, he  threw  his  support  to  Allen,  a  Populist,  and  aided 
in  bringing  about  his  election. 

In  1894  he  helped  secure  the  nomination  of  a  portion  of  the 
Populist  ticket,  including  Holcomb  for  governor  before  the 
Democratic  state  convention. 

So  now,  there  was  again  a  multiplicity  of  interests  coming 
in  upon  Bryan,  the  private  citizen.  He  was  much  in  demand  as 
a  Chautauqua  speaker;  he  was  an  editorial  writer;  he  was  a  pivot 
figure,  though  not  an  office  holder,  in  state  politics,  and  he  was 
still  the  passionate  sponsor  of  free  silver. 

It  was  this  last  cause,  bimetalism,  which  took  him  off  on 
trips  to  the  West  and  to  the  South  to  talk  for  it.  But  these 
trips  had  an  important  by-product.  They  were  stepping  stones 
leading  up,  along  with  a  number  of  other  things  which  we  have 
discussed,  to  that  climax  moment  at  the  Chicago  Coliseum  when 
Bryan  made  his  "Cross  of  Gold"  speech,  and  became  the  Demo- 
cratic presidential  nominee,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  just  one  year 
beyond  the  minimum  age  requirement  for  the  chief  executive  of 
the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


The  First  Battle 

Chicago  Convention  of  1896 — Mrs.  Bryan  Hopeful — Silver  Repub- 
licans Have  Bolted — Split  over  Temporary  Chairman — Platform 
Fight — Money  Plank — Bryan  In  Charge  Silver  Debate — Answers 
Senator  Hill  with  "Cross  of  Gold"  Speech — Victory — Silver  and 
People's  Parties  Also  Nominate  Him — Notification  at  Madison 
Square  Garden— Speech  of  Acceptance. 

Bryan  went  to  the  Democratic  convention  of  1896  in  Chicago 
with  the  silver  delegation  from  Nebraska.  He  went  with  the 
half-formed  ambition  in  mind  that  he  might  be  his  party's 
nominee  for  the  Presidency. 

Mrs.  Bryan  was  urging  him  on.  She  could  see  nothing 
humorous  in  the  proposal  that  her  thirty-six  year  old  husband 
should  attempt  to  win  the  nomination.  During  their  stay  in 
Washington  she  had  kept  abreast  of  him  in  his  political  ad- 
vancement. Her  womanly  instinct  advised  her  that,  with  the 
convention  split  over  the  silver  question,  the  inspiring  oratory 
of  Bryan  might  serve  exactly  to  turn  the  delegates  in  his  favor. 

She  was  certain  that  her  husband  would  stand  a  good  chance 
of  winning,  could  he  only  have  the  opportunity  of  taking  the 
floor.  She  advised  him  to  prepare  a  speech;  and  from  old  ma- 
terial used  in  previous  debates  on  the  silver  question,  from  ma- 
terial gathered  afresh,  and,  with  confidence  that  his  tongue  would 
take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  when  it  presented  itself,  he 
made  up  a  rough  draft  of  the  classic  oration  that  became  known 
in  political  history  as  the  "Cross  of  Gold"  speech. 

Bryan  was  very  much  in  earnest  over  the  money  question, 
but,  despite  Mrs.  Bryan's  prophecies,  he  was  none  too  confident 
of  his  ability  to  swing  the  convention  his  way.    A  fellow  editorial 

100 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  101 

writer  on  the  Omaha  World-Herald  inquired  of  him  jokingly 
one  day  whether  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  nomination. 

"I've  got  my  lightning  rod  up,"  replied  Bryan,  and  grinned 
a  bit  sheepishly. 

It  was  largely  due  to  Mrs.  Bryan  that  the  Nebraska  delega- 
tion became  solidly  in  favor  of  the  nomination  of  their  colleague. 
They  went  to  Chicago  with  the  side  of  their  railroad  coach  deco- 
rated with  a  banner  which  read: 

"Keep  Your  Eye  on  Nebraska." 

The  common  understanding  of  the  Chicago  convention  of 
1896  seems  to  be  that  Bryan  went  there,  plunged  in,  declaimed 
his  famous  speech,  and  was  promptly  elected  by  acclamation. 
The  true  case  was  far  different.  It  is  necessary  first  to  turn 
to  the  convention  of  the  opposing  party  to  obtain  the  proper 
alignment  of  the  forces  as  they  stood. 

The  Republicans  met  in  St.  Louis.  They  too  were  troubled 
by  a  split  over  the  money  question.  The  money  plank  of  their 
platform  was  the  only  important  matter  of  dispute.  Bryan  was 
there  as  a  correspondent  for  his  paper,  looking  on  with  interest 
at  the  fight  between  the  eastern  gold  men,  the  western  free  coin- 
age adherents,  and  some  from  the  central  states  who  wanted 
gold  in  the  platform  but  who  hesitated  to  use  the  word  outright. 

The  majority  report  of  the  platform  committee  was  a  com- 
promise favoring  gold.  It  opposed  the  free  coinage  of  silver 
"except  by  international  agreement  with  the  leading  commercial 
nations  of  the  world." 

Senator  Henry  M.  Teller  of  Colorado  was  leading  the  silver 
faction.  On  behalf  of  the  minority  of  the  committee  he  brought 
in  a  report  supporting  the  free  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  at  16 
to  1.  The  minority  silver  plank  was  voted  down  ten  to  one; 
the  compromise  gold  plank,  adopted. 

At  the  announcement  of  the  vote,  Teller  and  his  adherents 


102  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

left  the  convention  and  formed  themselves  into  the  Silver  Re- 
publican party.  They  met  a  few  days  later  and  Teller  was  placed 
before  the  people  as  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  But 
his  candidacy  lasted  only  a  short  time.  Following  the  Demo- 
cratic convention,  Teller  withdrew  and  the  Silver  Republicans 
threw  their  weight  toward  the  support  of  the  Democratic 
ticket. 

This  is  why  the  Republican  convention  was  important  to 
Bryan.  McKinley,  of  course,  was  finally  chosen  by  the  Republi- 
cans, with  young  Bryan,  so  soon  to  be  his  rival  in  the  field, 
looking  on  from  the  press  gallery.  The  Nebraskan  was  quick 
to  seize  that  point  in  the  Republican  money  plank  concerning 
international  consent.  He  was  to  make  much  of  it  in  his  "Cross 
of  Gold"  speech.  On  the  strength  of  it  he  wired  his  paper  sug- 
gesting the  following  plank  for  the  coming  Democratic 
convention : 

"We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  the  single  gold  standard  and 
demand  the  immediate  restoration  of  the  free  and  unlimited  coin- 
age of  gold  and  silver  at  the  present  legal  ratio  of  16  to  1, 
without  waiting  for  the  aid  or  consent  of  any  other  nation  on 
earth.  We  believe  that  the  standard  silver  dollar  should  be  a 
full  legal  tender,  equally  with  gold  coin  for  all  debts,  public  and 
private,  and  we  favor  such  legislation  as  is  necessary  to  prevent 
the  demonitization  of  any  kind  of  legal  tender  money  by  private 
contract.  We  further  insist  that  all  government  coin  obligations 
should  be  payable  in  either  gold  or  silver,  at  the  option  of  the 
government." 

Parts  of  that  suggestion  were  bodily  incorporated  into  the 
money  plank  of  the  Democratic  platform  as  eventually  adopted. 
That  part  of  it  referring  to  foreign  nations  was  strengthened  and 
much  expanded. 

In  preparation  for  their  convention   in  Chicago,  the  silver 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  103 

Democrats  met  there  at  the  Sherman  House  on  June  30th. 
Richard  Parks  Bland,  "Silver  Dick"  Bland,  of  Missouri  was 
the  logical  heir-apparent  to  the  nomination  for  President.  The 
silver  delegates  determined  that  the  gage  of  battle  should  be 
cast  down  immediately.  A  majority  of  the  national  committee 
were  in  favor  of  the  single  gold  standard;  they  were  sure  to 
recommend  as  temporary  chairman  of  the  convention  some  dele- 
gate of  their  own  persuasion.  The  bimetalists  decided  that  bat- 
tle should  be  joined  on  this  issue. 

The  prophecy  concerning  the  national  committee's  action 
came  true.  They  placed  before  the  convention  the  name  of 
Senator  David  B.  Hill  of  New  York  as  temporary  chairman. 
The  silver  faction  promptly  replied  by  naming  Senator  John  W. 
Daniel  of  Virginia  as  a  substitute  for  Senator  Hill.  In  vain  the 
committee  protested  that  such  a  move  cast  humiliation  upon 
them.  The  silver  delegates  answered  their  gold  brethren  by 
declaring  that  the  committee  should  have  respected  the  wishes 
of  the  majority  of  the  convention  in  the  first  place.  They  stuck 
to  their  point  and  Daniel  was  chosen  by  a  vote  of  556,  against 
349  for  Hill. 

During  this  preliminary  fight  Bryan  was  forced  to  sit  on 
the  sidelines  as  a  spectator,  together  with  the  other  members  of 
the  silver  delegation  from  Nebraska.  The  national  committee, 
true  to  the  majority  within  their  membership,  had  seated 
the  Nebraska  gold  delegates,  who  were  sent  by  the  "straight 
Democratic"  party  which  had  bolted  the  Nebraska  state  conven- 
tion of  1894. 

With  the  temporary  organization  ironed  out,  the  contest 
between  the  two  delegations  was  brought  before  the  committee 
on  credentials.  By  an  almost  unanimous  vote  the  committee 
decided  in  favor  of  the  silver  delegation  of  which  Bryan  was  a 
member,  and  he  and  his  fellows  were  formally  escorted  to  their 


104  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

seats.  Senator  Stephen  M.  White  of  California  was  proposed 
and  chosen  as  permanent  chairman  of  the  convention. 

As  had  been  foreseen,  the  split  over  the  election  of  a  tem- 
porary chairman  was  widened  when  it  came  to  the  adoption  of  a 
platform.  The  committee  on  resolutions  was  hopelessly  divided 
on  the  money  plank.  Bryan  had  been  selected  as  a  member  of 
this  committee,  the  majority  of  whom  were  delegates  who  had 
been  sent  with  instructions  to  uphold  a  platform  supporting  the 
free  coinage  of  silver.  There  was  from  the  first  no  hope  of 
reaching  a  compromise;  feeling  ran  too  high;  convictions  were 
rooted  too  deep.  After  some  argument  the  question  was  taken 
before  the  convention. 

The  majority  report  was  read  by  Senator  James  K.  Jones 
of  Arkansas.     Its  money  plank  read  as  follows : 

"Recognizing  that  the  money  question  is  paramount  to  all 
others  at  this  time,  we  invite  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
Federal  Constitution  name  silver  and  gold  together  as  the  money 
metals  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  first  coinage  law  passed 
by  Congress  under  the  Constitution  made  the  silver  dollar  the 
monetary  unit  and  admitted  gold  to  free  coinage  at  a  ratio  based 
upon  the  silver  dollar  unit. 

"We  declare  that  the  act  of  1873  demonitizing  silver  without 
the  knowledge  or  approval  of  the  American  people  has  resulted 
in  the  appreciation  of  gold  and  a  corresponding  fall  in  the  prices 
of  commodities  produced  by  the  people ;  a  heavy  increase  in  the 
burden  of  taxation  and  of  all  debts,  public  and  private;  the  en- 
richment of  the  money  lending  class  at  home  and  abroad;  the 
prostration  of  industry  and  impoverishment  of  the  people. 

"We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  monometalism,  which  has 
locked  fast  the  prosperity  of  an  industrial  people  in  the  paralysis 
of  hard  times.  Gold  monometalism,  is  a  British  policy,  and  its 
adoption  has  brought  other  nations  into  financial  servitude  to 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  105 

London.  It  is  not  only  un-American  but  anti-American,  and  it 
can  be  fastened  on  the  United  States  only  by  the  stifling  of  that 
spirit  and  love  of  liberty  which  proclaimed  our  political  inde- 
pendence in  1776  and  won  it  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 

"We  demand  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  both  silver 
and  gold  at  the  present  legal  ratio  of  16  to  1  without  wait- 
ing for  the  aid  or  consent  of  any  other  nation.  We  demand  that 
the  standard  silver  dollar  shall  be  a  full  legal  tender,  equally  with 
gold,  for  all  debts,  public  and  private,  and  we  favor  such  legisla- 
tion as  will  prevent  for  the  future  the  demonitization  of  any 
kind  of  legal  tender  money  by  private  contract. 

"We  are  opposed  to  the  policy  and  practice  of  surrendering 
to  the  holders  of  the  obligations  of  the  United  States  the  option 
reserved  by  law  to  the  Government  of  redeeming  such  obliga- 
tions in  either  silver  coin  or  gold  coin. 

"We  are  opposed  to  the  issuing  of  interest  bearing  bonds 
of  the  United  States  in  time  of  peace,  and  condemn  the  traffick- 
ing with  banking  syndicates,  which,  in  exchange  for  bonds  and 
at  an  enormous  profit  to  themselves,  supply  the  federal  treasury 
with  gold  to  maintain  the  policy  of  gold  monometalism. 

"Congress  alone  has  the  power  to  coin  and  issue  money,  and 
President  Jackson  declared  that  this  power  should  not  be  dele- 
gated to  corporations  or  individuals.  We  therefore  denounce 
the  issuance  of  notes  intended  to  circulate  as  money  by  national 
banks  as  a  derogation  of  the  Constitution,  and  we  demand  that 
all  paper  which  is  made  a  legal  tender  for  public  and  private 
debts,  or  which  is  receivable  for  dues  to  the  United  States,  shall 
be  issued  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  and  shall  be 
redeemable  in  coin.,, 

The  sixteen  minority  members  of  the  committee  on  resolu- 
tions presented  their  report  and  offered  as  a  substitute  for  this 
money  plank  of  the  majority  the  following: 


106  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"We  declare  our  belief  that  the  experiment  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  alone,  of  free  silver  coinage  and  a  change  of 
the  existing  standard  of  value  independently  of  the  action  of 
other  great  nations,  would  not  only  imperil  our  finances,  but 
would  retard  or  entirely  prevent  the  establishment  of  inter- 
national bimetalism,  to  which  the  efforts  of  the  government 
should  be  steadily  directed.  It  would  place  this  country  at  once 
upon  a  silver  basis,  impair  contracts,  disturb  business,  diminish 
the  purchasing  power  of  the  wages  of  labor,  and  inflict  irrepara- 
ble evils  upon  our  nation's  commerce  and  industry. 

"Until  international  co-operation  among  leading  nations  for 
the  coinage  of  silver  can  be  secured,  we  favor  the  rigid  mainte- 
nance of  the  existing  gold  standard  as  essential  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  national  credit,  the  redemption  of  our  public  pledges, 
and  the  keeping  inviolate  of  our  country's  honor.  We  insist  that 
all  our  paper  and  silver  currency  shall  be  kept  absolutely  at  a 
parity  with  gold.  The  Democratic  party  is  the  party  of  hard 
money  and  is  opposed  to  a  legal  tender  paper  money  as  a  part 
of  our  permanent  financial  system,  and  we  therefore  favor  the 
gradual  retirement  and  cancellation  of  all  United  States  notes 
and  treasury  notes,  under  such  legislative  provisions  as  will  pre- 
vent undue  contraction.  We  demand  that  the  national  credit 
shall  be  resolutely  maintained  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances." 

The  minority  report  also  stated  that  the  platform  of  the  ma- 
jority failed  to  compliment  the  merits  of  the  Cleveland  admin- 
istration. As  an  amendment  to  the  majority  report  they  offered 
the  declaration  that,  "We  commend  the  honesty,  economy,  cour- 
age and  fidelity  of  the  present  Democratic  national  administra- 
tion." 

The  majority  platform  was  moved  to  adoption  by  the  conven- 
tion.   The  minority  amendments  came  next  in  the  order  of  busi- 


R    &    A.    photo. 


About    1900 — Bryan  at  his  desk,  taken  about   the   time   that  he   made 
his  second  run  for  the  Presidency. 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  109 

ness.  Gold  delegates  and  silver  supporters  lined  up  for  the  de- 
bate. It  was  William  Jennings  Bryan's  chance.  Just  before 
the  platform  was  reported  to  the  convention,  Senator  Jones  had 
asked  him  to  take  charge  of  the  debate.  We  can  imagine  the  ela- 
tion of  the  young  Nebraskan.  Thanks  to  his  wife,  his  speech 
was  ready.  As  speaker  after  speaker  took  the  floor  the  points 
of  his  argument  marshalled  themselves  in  his  brain. 

Senator  B.  R.  Tillman  of  South  Carolina  opened  the  debate  in 
favor  of  the  majority  platform.  Senator  Jones  followed  him. 
On  behalf  of  the  minority,  Senator  Hill,  Senator  William  F. 
Vilas  of  Wisconsin,  and  Former  Governor  J.  E.  Russell  of  Massa- 
chusetts, spoke  long  and  powerfully. 

The  speech  of  Hill,  especially,  was  a  masterpiece,  considered 
as  a  political  brief.  It  was  one  of  the  closest  and  keenest  argu- 
ments ever  heard  at  a  national  convention.  It  dissected  the  plat- 
form recommended  by  the  majority  and  picked  it  to  pieces. 
Bryan's  task,  to  make  answer,  was  no  easy  one. 

Added  to  his  difficulty  was  the  fact  that  everybody  was  tired. 
They  had  listened  to  hours  of  discussion;  they  were  almost 
ready  for  compromise.  But  one  advantage  he  did  have.  The 
convention  was  held  in  the  old  Chicago  Coliseum  on  63rd  street 
near  Stony  Island  avenue.  The  acoustics  of  the  building  were 
poor.  Those  in  the  back  of  the  hall  had  diflculty  hearing  the 
speakers. 

The  delegate  from  Nebraska,  the  "Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte," 
mounted  to  the  rostrum.  Perhaps  the  others  were  ready  for 
compromise ;  he  was  not.  His  eyes  flashed  with  the  fire  of  his 
zeal  for  the  cause;  he  shook  his  thick  black  hair.  He  began  to 
speak.  It  was  the  speech  to  be  known  later  as  his  "Cross  of 
Gold"  speech,  and  it  is  printed  in  full  in  the  next  chapter.  Sleepy 
delegates  in  the  far  seats,  who  had  heard  about  half  of  the 
speeches  of  Bryan's  predecessors,  woke  up  with  a  jerk;  for  Bryan 


110  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

was  called  the  "silver  tongued"  with  reason.  His  full,  rounded 
voice  carried  to  every  corner  of  the  auditorium. 

"It  would  be  presumptous  indeed,"  he  began,  and  he  went  on 
to  that  famous  peroration  from  which  the  speech  took  its  name. 
The  convention  turned  to  him  in  a  stampede.  The  prophecy 
of  Mrs.  Bryan  was  fulfilled.  Word  of  the  great  oration  spread 
outside  the  convention  hall.  Acclaimed  by  crowds  who  wanted  to 
hear  what  he  had  said,  Bryan  was  forced  to  make  a  second 
speech  later  that  evening  from  the  porte-cochere  of  the  old  Clif- 
ton House  on  Monroe  street.  His  audience  blocked  the  traffic 
for  an  hour. 

The  substitute  for  the  money  plank  offered  by  the  minority 
was  defeated  two  to  one.  So  too,  the  amendment,  and  two 
further  amendments  offered  by  Senator  Hill.  The  majority  plat- 
form with  its  original  plank  for  the  free  coinage  of  silver  in 
the  ratio  of  16  to  1  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  628  to  301. 
And  two  days  later  Bryan  rode  into  the  nomination  on  the  tide 
of  his  own  eloquence. 

The  balloting  and  the  votes  cast  are  detailed  in  the  follow- 
ng  chapter.  Suffice  it  here,  that  Bryan  had  become,  overnight 
hnost,  a  figure  of  mounting  national  importance.  He  had 
jumped  with  one  leap  into  the  lead  of  the  Democratic  party  and 
he  was  not  to  relinquish  that  leadership  for  years  to  come.  It 
was  almost  undisputed  from  1896  until  1916.  And  for  the  first 
time  in  many  years  he  had  thrown  the  weight  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  favor  of  the  man  in  whom  he  himself  believed,  the 
common  man,  not  the  man  of  privilege  and  wealth.  For  the  first 
time  since  Jackson,  the  Democratic  party  was  really  democratic. 

The  Georgia  delegate  who  nominated  him  called  him  a  "Saul 
come  to  lead  the  Israelites  to  battle."  Truly,  Bryan  lived  up  to 
the  characterization. 

On  July  22,  twelve  days  after  Bryan's  nomination  at  Chicago, 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  111 

the  National  Silver  party  and  the  People's  party  both  met  in 
convention  at  St.  Louis.  After  conferences  between  the  two 
meetings,  both  conventions  nominated  Bryan  as  their  candidate 
for  the  Presidency.  The  Silver  party  followed  the  Democratic 
lead  and  selected  Sewall  for  Vice-Presidential  nominee.  The 
Populists,  however,  nominated  Thomas  E.  Watson  of  Georgia 
for  the  office.  Their  choice,  which  placed  Bryan  in  the  posi- 
tion of  campaigning  with  two  running  mates,  was  embarrassing 
to  him  in  the  days  to  come.  He  hesitated  for  some  time,  but  on 
Sewall's  own  urging,  he  finally  accepted  the  Populist  nomination. 

Three  days  after  the  Chicago  nomination,  Bryan  left  for  a 
visit  to  his  old  home  in  Salem,  where  he  was  called  on  to  address 
a  huge  crowd  of  old  neighbors  and  friends.  There  was  another 
meeting  in  the  evening  at  Salem  and  there  he  spoke  briefly. 

"If  there  is  one  lesson  taught  by  six  thousand  years  of  his- 
tory it  is  that  truth  is  omnipotent  and  will  at  last  prevail,"  he 
said.  "You  may  impede  its  progress,  you  may  delay  its  triumph  ; 
but  after  awhile  it  will  show  its  irresistible  power,  and  those  who 
stand  in  its  way  will  be  crushed  beneath  it.  You  ask  me  if 
these  reforms  which  we  advocate  will  be  accomplished.  We  wh( 
believe  that  they  are  right  can  only  do  our  best  and  give  such 
impetus  to  them  as  we  are  able  to  give,  and  then  trust  to  the 
righteousness  of  our  cause  to  prevail  over  those  who  oppose  us.'' 

To  us  in  more  modern  days,  the  political  passions  that  were 
aroused  over  the  issue  of  monometalism  versus  bimetalism  seem 
oddly  out  of  joint  with  things  as  we  know  them.  Those  who 
lived  and  voted  in  those  days  thirty  years  ago  know  how  real 
they  were. 

In  later  years  Bryan  declared  that  though  free  silver  had 
been  defeated,  the  ill  that  it  sought  to  correct  had  been  alleviated 
in  another  way.  The  free  coinage  of  silver,  he  explained,  was 
not  an  end  in  itself,  but  a  means  to  an  end — the  relief  of  hard 


112  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

times  through  placing  more  money  in  circulation.  And  the 
end  was  accomplished  Dy  another  means,  by  the  unexpected  in- 
crease in  the  production  of  gold. 

From  Salem,  Bryan  made  a  trip  to  Centralia,  Illinois.  From 
there  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  then  to  Kansas  City,  and  on  home  to 
Lincoln,  where  he  was  received  with  a  great  welcome.  On  this 
trip,  really  the  first  swing  of  his  campaign,  he  made  several 
speeches  and  covered  830  miles. 

It  was  decided  that  Bryan  should  receive  formal  notification 
of  his  nomination  in  New  York  at  Madison  Square  Garden,  in 
order  that  he  might  fire  the  opening  gun  of  his  campaign  within 
the  very  country  of  the  eastern  enemy,  the  gold  stronghold.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  August  8,  Bryan  and  Mrs.  Bryan,  accompanied  by 
newspaper  correspondents,  began  their  trip  eastward.  They 
made  many  stops  and  Bryan  spoke  at  Des  Moines,  Rock  Island, 
Chicago,  Canton,  and  Pittsburgh,  among  other  places. 

Governor  William  J.  Stone  of  Missouri  delivered  to  Bryan 
the  letter  of  notification  before  a  crowd  which  packed  the  famous 
New  York  convention  hall  to  the  doors.  Thousands  were  turned 
away,  unable  to  gain  admittance. 

Two  paragraphs  of  the  notification  are  quoted  here : 

"The  circumstances  attending  your  nomination  cannot  but 
afford  you  unqualified  satisfaction,  and  must  inspire  enthusiasm 
throughout  our  country.  You  were  selected  by  no  clique,  nor 
were  you  chosen  as  the  result  of  any  questionable  combination. 
Those  who  nominated  you  were  law-abiding,  determined,  and 
honest  representatives  of  their  countrymen,  and  preferred  you 
because  of  your  exalted  integrity,  patriotism,  and  ability.  You 
are  ripe  in  experience  and  judgment,  in  the  prime  of  manhood, 
and  enjoy  the  mental  and  physical  characteristics  essential  to  the 
great  work  which  you  have  been  required  to  undertake.     You 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE  113 

have  been  tried  in  public  station.  You  have  always  done  your 
entire  duty. 

"While  you  are  a  Democrat  and  have,  during  your  political 
career,  been  an  ardent  advocate  of  Democratic  principles,  you 
are  now  the  official  head  of  an  organization  comprising  not  only 
those  who  have  hitherto  been  Democrats,  but  also  including 
within  its  membership  numerous  other  patriotic  Americans  who 
have  abandoned  their  former  partisan  associations,  finding  in 
our  platform  and  candidate  a  policy  and  leadership  adequate  to 
save  the  Republic  from  impending  danger." 

Bryan's  reply,  careful  piece  of  oration  that  it  was,  was  a  dis- 
appointment to  many  of  his  listeners.  Quite  contrary  to  his  cus- 
tom, he  read  the  address,  and  those  who  had  come  to  hear  the 
fiery  orator  who  startled  the  convention  with  the  "Cross  of 
Gold"  speech  heard  a  much  more  subdued  candidate  reading 
earnestly  enough,  but  with  no  great  eloquence,  from  his  manu- 
script. The  disappointment  to  his  audience  had  been  calculated 
on  calmly.  It  was  the  first  speech;  it  would  be  the  center  of 
immediate  hostile  attack.  Therefore  it  must  be  concise  and  of 
air-tight  logic.  Also,  it  could  be  distributed  to  the  press  in 
advance  if  it  was  read,  and  Bryan  wished  to  reach  not  only  his 
immediate  hearers,  but  the  voters  all  over  the  country.  So  it  was 
read  with  full  understanding  of  the  disappointed  criticism  that 
would  follow. 

The  candidate  centered  his  attack  on  the  one  question,  the 
money  question,  and  he  championed  the  stand  of  his  party  for 
bimetalism.  For  days  he  had  pondered  on  a  closing  for  his 
speech.  At  last  it  had  come  to  him,  and  Bryan  concluded  this 
first  phase  of  his  first  great  battle  with  the  following  words : 

"I  ask,  I  expect,  your  co-operation.  It  is  true  that  a  few  of 
your  financiers  would  fashion  a  new  figure — a  figure  representing 
Columbia,  her  hands  bound  fast  with  fetters  of  gold  and  her 


114  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

face  turned  toward  the  east,  appealing  for  assistance  to  those 
who  live  beyond  the  sea — but  this  figure  can  never  express  your 
idea  of  this  nation.  You  will  rather  turn  for  inspiration  to  the 
heroic  statue  which  guards  the  entrance  to  your  city — a  statue 
as  patriotic  in  conception  as  it  is  colossal  in  proportions.  It  was 
the  gracious  gift  of  a  sister  republic  and  stands  upon  a  pedestal 
which  was  built  by  the  American  people.  That  figure — Liberty 
enlightening  the  world — is  emblematic  of  the  mission  of  our  na- 
tion among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  With  a  government  which 
derives  its  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  secures  to 
all  the  people  freedom  of  conscience,  freedom  of  thought  and 
freedom  of  speech,  guarantees  equal  rights  to  all,  and  promises 
special  privileges  to  none,  the  United  States  should  be  an  ex- 
ample in  all  that  is  good,  and  the  leading  spirit  in  every  move- 
ment which  has  for  its  object  the  uplifting  of  the  human  race." 


CHAPTER  IX 


"The  Cross  of  Gold" 

Shot  into  Fame  by  One  Speech — Definition  of  a  "Business  Man" — 
Need  for  a  Jackson  to  Stand  Against  Organized  Wealth — Gold 
Standard  More  Deadly  than  Protective  Tariff— Issue  of  76  Over 
Again — "Crown  of  Thorns;  Cross  of  Gold" — Convention  Stam- 
peded— Five  Ballots — Bryan  Nominated. 

There  follows  here  Bryan's  "Cross  of  Gold"  speech  delivered 
at  the  Democratic  national  convention  in  Chicago,  July  8,  1896. 
By  this  half  hour  of  oratory  Bryan  was  catapulted  to  nation- 
wide fame.  It  won  him  his  first  nomination  for  President  of 
the  United  States. 

"I  would  be  presumptuous,  indeed,  to  present  myself  against 
the  distinguished  gentlemen  to  whom  you  have  listened,  if  this 
were  a  mere  measuring  of  abilities ;  but  this  is  not  a  contest  be- 
tween persons.  The  humblest  citizen  in  all  the  land,  when  clad 
in  the  armor  of  a  righteous  cause,  is  stronger  than  all  the  hosts 
of  error.  I  come  to  speak  to  you  in  defense  of  a  cause  as  holy 
as  the  cause  of  liberty — the  cause  of  humanity. 

"When  this  debate  is  concluded,  a  motion  will  be  made  to 
lay  upon  the  table  the  resolution  offered  in  commendation  of  the 
administration,  and  also  the  resolution  offered  in  condemnation 
of  the  administration.  We  object  to  bringing  this  question  down 
to  the  level  of  persons.  The  individual  is  but  an  atom;  he  is 
born,  he  acts,  he  dies;  but  principles  are  eternal;  and  this  has 
been  a  contest  over  a  principle. 

"Never  before  in  the  history  of  this  country  has  there  been 
witnessed  such  a  contest  as  that  through  which  we  have  just 
passed.  Never  before  in  the  history  of  American  politics  has  a 
great  issue  been  fought  out  as  this  issue  has  been,  by  the  voters 

115 


116  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

of  a  great  party.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1895,  a  few  Democrats, 
most  of  them  members  of  Congress,  issued  an  address  to  the 
Democrats  of  the  nation,  asserting  that  the  money  question  was 
the  paramount  issue  of  the  hour;  declaring  that  a  majority  of 
the  Democratic  party  had  the  right  to  control  the  action  of  the 
party  on  this  paramount  issue ;  and  concluding  with  the  request 
that  the  believers  in  the  free  coinage  of  silver  in  the  Democratic 
party  should  organize,  take  charge  of,  and  control  the  policy  of 
the  Democratic  party.  Three  months  later,  at  Memphis,  an 
organization  was  perfected,  and  the  silver  Democrats  went  forth 
openly  and  courageously  proclaiming  their  belief,  and  declaring 
that,  if  successful,  they  would  crystallize  into  a  platform  the 
declaration  which  they  had  made.  Then  began  the  conflict. 
With  a  zeal  approaching  the  zeal  which  inspired  the  crusaders 
who  followed  Peter  the  Hermit,  our  silver  Democrats  went  forth 
from  victory  unto  victory  until  they  are  now  assembled,  not  to 
discuss,  not  to  debate,  but  to  enter  up  the  judgment  already 
rendered  by  the  plain  people  of  this  country.  In  this  contest 
brother  has  been  arrayed  against  brother,  father  against  son. 
The  warmest  ties  of  love,  acquaintance  and  association  have  been 
disregarded;  old  leaders  have  been  cast  aside  when  they  have 
refused  to  give  expression  to  the  sentiments  of  those  whom  they 
would  lead,  and  new  leaders  have  sprung  up  to  give  direction 
to  this  cause  of  truth.  Thus  has  the  contest  been  waged,  and 
we  have  assembled  here  under  as  binding  and  solemn  instruc- 
tions as  were  ever  imposed  upon  representatives  of  the  people. 
"We  do  not  come  as  individuals.  As  individuals  we  might 
have  been  glad  to  compliment  the  gentleman  from  New  York 
(Senator  Hill),  but  we  know  that  the  people  for  whom  we  speak 
would  never  be  willing  to  put  him  in  a  position  where  he  could 
thwart  the  will  of  the  Democratic  party.  I  say  it  was  not  a 
question  of  persons ;  it  was  a  question  of  principle,  and  it  is  not 


"THE  CROSS  OF  GOLD"  117 

with  gladness,  my  friends,  that  we  find  ourselves  brought  into 
conflict  with  those  who  are  now  arrayed  on  the  other  side. 

"The  gentleman  who  preceded  me  (ex-Governor  Russell) 
spoke  for  the  State  of  Massachusetts ;  let  me  assure  him  that  not 
one  present  in  all  this  convention  entertains  the  least  hostility  to 
the  people  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  but  we  stand  here 
representing  people  who  are  the  equals,  before  the  law,  of  the 
greatest  citizen  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  When  you  (turn- 
ing to  the  gold  delegates)  come  before  us  and  tell  us  that  we 
are  about  to  disturb  your  business  interests,  we  reply  that  you 
have  disturbed  our  business  interests  by  your  course. 

"We  say  to  you  that  you  have  made  the  definition  of  a  busi- 
ness man  too  limited  in  its  application.  The  man  who  is  em- 
ployed for  wages  is  as  much  a  business  man  as  his  employer; 
the  attorney  in  a  country  town  is  as  much  a  business  man  as 
the  corporation  counsel  in  a  great  metropolis;  the  merchant  at 
the  cross-roads  store  is  as  much  a  business  man  as  the  merchant 
of  New  York;  the  farmer  who  goes  forth  in  the  morning  and 
toils  all  day — who  begins  in  the  spring  and  toils  all  summer — 
and  who  by  the  application  of  brain  and  muscle  to  the  natural 
resources  of  the  country  creates  wealth,  is  as  much  a  business 
man  as  the  man  who  goes  upon  the  board  of  trade  and  bets 
upon  the  price  of  grain;  the  miners  who  go  down  a  thousand 
feet  into  the  earth,  or  climb  two  thousand  feet  upon  the  cliffs, 
and  bring  forth  from  their  hiding  places  the  precious  metals  to 
be  poured  into  the  channels  of  trade  are  as  much  business  men 
as  the  few  financial  magnates  who  in  a  back  room,  corner  the 
money  of  the  world.  We  come  to  speak  for  this  broader  class 
of  business  men. 

"Ah,  my  friends,  we  say  not  one  word  against  those  who  live 
upon  the  Atlantic  coast,  but  the  hardy  pioneers  who  have  braved 
all  the  dangers  of  the  wilderness,  who  have  made  the  desert  to 


118  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

blossom  as  the  rose — the  pioneers  away  out  there  (pointing  to 
the  west),  who  rear  their  children  near  to  Nature's  heart,  where 
they  can  mingle  their  voices  with  the  voices  of  the  birds — out 
there  where  they  have  erected  schoolhouses  for  the  education 
of  their  young,  churches  where  they  praise  their  Creator,  and 
cemeteries  where  rest  the  ashes  of  their  dead — these  people,  we 
say,  are  as  deserving  of  the  consideration  of  our  party  as  any 
people  in  this  country.  It  is  for  these  that  we  speak.  We  do 
not  come  as  aggressors.  Our  war  is  not  a  war  of  conquest; 
we  are  fighting  in  the  defense  of  our  homes,  our  families,  and 
posterity.  We  have  petitioned,  and  our  petitions  have  been 
scorned;  we  have  entreated,  and  our  entreaties  have  been  dis- 
regarded; we  have  begged,  and  they  have  mocked  when  our 
calamity  came.  We  beg  no  longer;  we  entreat  no  longer;  we 
petition  no  more.     We  defy  them. 

"The  gentleman  from  Wisconsin  has  said  that  he  fears  a 
Robespierre.  My  friends,  in  this  land  of  the  free  you  need  not 
fear  that  a  tyrant  will  spring  up  from  among  the  people.  What 
we  need  is  an  Andrew  Jackson  to  stand,  as  Jackson  stood,  against 
the  encroachment  of  organized  wealth. 

"They  tell  us  that  this  platform  was  made  to  catch  votes. 
We  reply  to  them  that  changing  conditions  make  new  issues; 
that  the  principles  upon  which  Democracy  rests  are  as  ever- 
lasting as  the  hills,  but  that  they  must  be  applied  to  new  con- 
ditions as  they  arise.  Conditions  have  arisen,  and  we  are  here 
to  meet  these  conditions.  They  tell  us  that  the  income  tax 
ought  not  to  be  brought  in  here;  that  it  is  a  new  idea.  They 
criticize  us  for  our  criticism  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  My  friends  we  have  not  criticized;  we  have  simply 
called  attention  to  what  you  already  know.  If  you  want  criti- 
cisms, read  the  dissenting  opinions  of  the  court.  There  you 
will  find  criticisms.     They  say  that  we  passed  an  unconstitu- 


"THE  CROSS  OF  GOLD"  119 

tional  law;  we  deny  it.  The  income  tax  law  was  not  unconstitu- 
tional when  it  was  passed;  it  was  not  unconstitutional  when  it 
went  before  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  first  time;  it  did  not 
become  unconstitutional  until  one  of  the  judges  changed  his 
mind,  and  we  cannot  be  expected  to  know  when  a  judge  will 
change  his  mind.  The  income  tax  is  just.  It  simply  intends  to 
put  the  burdens  of  government  justly  upon  the  backs  of  the 
people.  I  am  in  favor  of  an  income  tax.  When  I  find  a  man 
who  is  not  willing  to  bear  his  share  of  the  burdens  of  the  govern- 
ment which  protects  him,  I  find  a  man  who  is  unworthy  to 
enjoy  the  blessings  of  a  government  like  ours. 

"They  say  that  we  are  opposing  national  bank  currency;  it 
is  true.  If  you  will  read  what  Thomas  Benton  said,  you  will 
find  he  said  that,  in  searching  history,  he  could  find  but  one 
parallel  to  Andrew  Jackson ;  that  was  Cicero,  who  destroyed 
the  conspiracy  of  Cataline  and  saved  Rome.  Benton  said  that 
Cicero  only  did  for  Rome  what  Jackson  did  for  us  when  he 
destroyed  the  bank  conspiracy  and  saved  America.  We  say  in 
our  platform  that  we  believe  that  the  right  to  coin  and  issue 
money  is  a  function  of  government.  We  believe  it.  We  believe 
that  it  is  a  part  of  sovereignty,  and  can  no  more  with  safety  be 
delegated  to  private  individuals  than  we  could  afford  to  delegate 
to  private  individuals  the  power  to  make  penal  statutes  or  levy 
taxes.  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  was  once  regarded  as  good  Democratic 
authority,  seems  to  have  differed  in  opinion  from  the  gentle- 
man who  addressed  us  on  the  part  of  the  minority.  Those  who 
are  opposed  to  this  proposition  tell  us  that  the  issue  of  paper 
money  ought  to  go  out  of  the  banking  business.  I  stand  with 
Jefferson  rather  than  with  them,  and  tell  them,  as  he  did,  that 
the  issue  of  money  is  a  function  of  government,  and  that  the 
banks  ought  to  go  out  of  the  governing  business. 

"They  complain  about  the  plank  which  declares  against  life 


120  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

tenure  in  office.  They  have  tried  to  strain  it  to  mean  that 
which  it  does  not  mean.  What  we  oppose  by  that  plank  is  the 
life  tenure  which  is  being  built  up  in  Washington,  and  which 
excludes  from  participation  in  official  benefits  the  humbler  mem- 
bers of  society.  Let  me  call  your  attention  to  two  or  three  im- 
portant things.  The  gentleman  from  New  York  says  that  he 
will  propose  an  amendment  to  the  platform  providing  that  the 
proposed  change  in  our  monetary  system  shall  not  affect  con- 
tracts already  made.  Let  me  remind  you  that  there  is  no  inten- 
tion of  affecting  those  contracts  which  according  to  present 
laws  are  made  payable  in  gold;  but  if  he  means  to  say  that  we 
cannot  change  our  monetary  system  without  protecting  those 
who  have  loaned  money  before  the  change  was  made,  I  desire 
to  ask  him  where,  in  law  or  in  morals,  he  can  find  justification 
for  not  protecting  the  debtors  when  the  act  of  1873  was  passed, 
if  he  now  insists  that  we  must  protect  the  creditors. 

"He  says  he  will  also  propose  an  amendment  which  will 
provide  for  the  suspension  of  free  coinage  if  we  fail  to  maintain 
the  parity  within  a  year.  We  reply  that  when  we  advocate  a 
policy  which  we  believe  will  be  successful,  we  are  not  compelled 
to  raise  a  doubt  as  to  our  own  sincerity  by  suggesting  what  we 
shall  do  if  we  fail.  I  ask  him,  if  he  would  apply  his  logic  to  us, 
why  he  does  not  apply  it  to  himself.  He  says  he  wants  this  coun- 
try to  try  to  secure  an  international  agreement.  Why  does  he 
not  tell  us  us  what  he  is  going  to  do  if  he  fails  to  secure  an  inter- 
national agreement?  There  is  more  reason  for  him  to  do  that 
than  there  is  for  us  to  provide  against  the  failure  to  maintain 
the  parity.  Our  opponents  have  tried  for  twenty  years  to  secure 
an  international  agreement,  and  those  are  waiting  for  it  most 
patiently  who  do  not  want  it  at  all. 

"And  now,  my  friends,  let  me  come  to  the  paramount  issue. 
If  they  ask  us  why  it  is  that  we  say  more  on  the  money  question 


"THE  CROSS  OF  GOLD"  121 

than  we  say  upon  the  tariff  question,  I  reply  that,  if  protection 
has  slain  its  thousands,  the  gold  standard  has  slain  its  tens 
of  thousands.  If  they  ask  us  why  we  do  not  embody  in  our  plat- 
form all  the  things  that  we  believe  in,  we  reply  that  when  we 
have  restored  the  money  of  the  Constitution  all  other  necessary 
reforms  will  be  possible;  but  that  until  this  is  done  there  is  no 
other  reform  that  can  be  accomplished. 

"Why  is  it  that  within  three  months  such  a  change  has  come 
over  the  country?  Three  months  ago,  when  it  was  confidently 
asserted  that  those  who  believe  in  the  gold  standard  would 
frame  our  platform  and  nominate  our  candidates,  even  the  ad- 
vocates of  the  gold  standard  did  not  think  that  we  could  elect 
a  President.  And  they  have  good  reason  for  their  doubt,  be- 
cause there  is  scarcely  a  state  here  today  asking  for  the  gold 
standard  which  is  not  in  the  absolute  control  of  the  Republican 
party.  But  note  the  change.  Mr.  McKinley  was  nominated  at 
St.  Louis  upon  a  platform  which  declared  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  gold  standard  until  it  can  be  changed  into  bimetalism  by 
international  agreement.  Mr.  McKinley  was  the  most  popular 
man  among  the  Republicans  and  three  months  ago  everybody 
in  the  Republican  party  prophesied  his  election.  How  is  it 
today?  Why,  the  man  who  was  once  pleased  to  think  that  he 
looked  like  Napoleon — that  man  shudders  today  when  he  re- 
members that  he  was  nominated  on  the  anniversary  of  the 
battle  of  Waterloo.  Not  only  that,  but  as  he  listens  he  can 
hear  with  ever-increasing  distinctness  the  sound  of  the  waves 
as  they  beat  upon  the  lonely  shores  of  St.  Helena. 

"Why  this  change?  Ah,  my  friends,  is  not  the  reason  for 
the  change  evident  to  any  one  who  will  look  at  the  matter? 
No  private  character,  however  pure,  no  personal  popularity, 
however  great,  can  protect  from  the  avenging  wrath  of  an  indig- 
nant people  a  man  who  will  declare  that  he  is  in  favor  of  fasten- 


122  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

ing  the  gold  standard  upon  the  country,  or  who  is  willing  to 
surrender  the  right  of  self-government  and  place  the  legislative 
control  of  our  affairs  in  the  hands  of  foreign  potentates  and 
powers. 

"We  go  forth  confident  that  we  shall  win.  Why?  Because 
upon  the  paramount  issue  of  this  campaign  there  is  not  a  spot  of 
ground  upon  which  the  enemy  will  dare  to  challenge  battle. 
If  they  tell  us  that  the  gold  standard  is  a  good  thing,  we  shall 
point  to  their  platform  and  tell  them  that  their  platform  pledges 
the  party  to  get  rid  of  the  gold  standard  and  substitute  bimetal- 
ism.  If  the  gold  standard  is  a  good  thing,  why  try  to  get  rid  of 
it?  I  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  some  of  the  very  people 
who  are  in  this  convention  today  and  who  tell  us  that  we  ought 
to  declare  in  favor  of  international  bimetalism — thereby  declaring 
that  the  old  standard  is  wrong  and  that  the  principle  of  bimetal- 
ism is  better — these  very  people  four  months  ago  were  open  and 
avowed  advocates  of  the  gold  standard,  and  were  then  telling  us 
that  we  could  not  legislate  two  metals  together,  even  with  the 
aid  of  all  the  world.  If  the  gold  standard  is  a  good  thing,  we 
ought  to  declare  in  favor  of  its  retention  and  not  in  favor  of 
abandoning  it ;  and  if  the  gold  standard  is  a  bad  thing  why  should 
we  wait  until  other  nations  are  willing  to  help  us  to  let  go?  Here 
is  the  line  of  battle,  and  we  care  not  upon  which  issue  they 
force  the  fight;  we  are  prepared  to  meet  them  on  either  issue  or 
on  both.  If  they  tell  us  that  the  gold  standard  is  the  standard 
of  civilization,  we  reply  to  them  that  this,  the  most  enlightened 
of  all  nations  of  the  earth,  has  never  declared  for  a  gold  standard 
and  that  both  the  great  parties  this  year  are  declaring  against 
it.  If  the  gold  standard  is  the  standard  of  civilization,  why,  my 
friends,  should  we  not  have  it?  If  they  come  to  meet  us  on 
that  issue  we  can  present  the  history  of  our  nation.  More  than 
that;  we  can  tell  them  that  they  will  search  the  pages  of  history 


"THE  CROSS  OF  GOLD"  123 

in  vain  to  find  a  single  instance  where  the  common  people  of  any 
land  have  ever  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  the  gold  standard. 
They  can  find  where  the  holders  of  fixed  investments  have  de- 
clared for  the  gold  standard,  but  not  where  the  masses  have. 

"Mr.  Carlisle  said  in  1878  that  this  was  a  struggle  between 
'the  idle  holders  of  idle  capital'  and  'the  struggling  masses,  who 
produce  the  wealth  and  pay  the  taxes  of  the  country';  and,  my 
friends,  the  question  we  are  to  decide  is :  Upon  which  side  will 
the  Democratic  party  fight;  upon  the  side  of  'the  idle  holders 
of  idle  capital'  or  upon  the  side  of  'the  struggling  masses?' 
That  is  the  question  which  the  party  must  answer  first,  and  then 
it  must  be  answered  by  each  individual  hereafter.  The  sym- 
pathies of  the  Democratic  party,  as  shown  by  the  platform,  are 
on  the  side  of  the  struggling  masses  who  have  ever  been  the 
foundation  of  the  Democratic  party.  There  are  two  ideas  of 
government.  There  are  those  who  believe  that,  if  you  will  only 
legislate  to  make  the  well-to-do  prosperous,  their  prosperity  will 
leak  through  on  those  below.  The  Democratic  idea,  however, 
has  been  that  if  you  legislate  to  make  the  masses  prosperous, 
their  prosperity  will  find  its  way  up  through  every  class  which 
rests  upon  them. 

"You  come  to  us  and  tell  us  that  the  great  cities  are  in 
favor  of  the  gold  standard ;  we  reply  that  the  great  cities  rest 
upon  our  broad  and  fertile  prairies.  Burn  down  your  cities  and 
leave  our  farms,  and  your  cities  will  spring  up  again  as  if  by 
magic;  but  destroy  our  farms  and  the  grass  will  grow  in  the 
streets  of  every  city  in  the  country. 

"My  friends,  we  declare  that  this  nation  is  able  to  legislate 
for  its  own  people  on  every  question,  without  waiting  for  the 
aid  or  consent  of  any  other  nation  on  earth ;  and  upon  that  issue 
we  expect  to  carry  every  state  in  the  Union.  I  shall  not  slander 
the  inhabitants  of  the  fair  State  of  Massachusetts  nor  the  in- 


124  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

habitants  of  the  State  of  New  York  by  saying  that,  when  they 
are  confronted  with  the  proposition,  they  will  declare  that  this 
nation  is  not  able  to  attend  to  its  own  business.  It  is  the  issue 
of  1776  over  again.  Our  ancestors,  when  but  three  millions  in 
number,  had  the  courage  to  declare  their  political  independence 
of  every  other  nation ;  shall  we,  their  descendants,  when  we  have 
grown  to  seventy  millions,  declare  that  we  are  less  independent 
than  our  forefathers?  No,  my  friends,  that  will  never  be  the 
verdict  of  our  people.  Therefore,  we  care  not  upon  what  lines 
the  battle  is  fought.  If  they  say  bimetalism  is  good,  but  that 
we  cannot  have  it  until  other  nations  help  us,  we  reply  that, 
instead  of  having  a  gold  standard  because  England  has,  we  will 
restore  bimetalism,  and  then  let  England  have  bimetalism  be- 
cause the  United  States  has  it.  If  they  dare  to  come  out  in  the 
open  field  and  defend  the  gold  standard  as  a  good  thing,  we 
will  fight  them  to  the  uttermost.  Having  behind  us  the  produc- 
ing masses  of  this  nation  and  the  world,  supported  by  the  com- 
mercial interests,  the  laboring  interests,  and  the  toilers  every- 
where, we  will  answer  their  demand  for  a  gold  standard  by 
saying  to  them:  You  shall  not  press  down  upon  the  brow  of 
labor  this  crown  of  thorns,  you  shall  not  crucify  mankind  upon 
a  cross  of  gold." 

Those  final  words,  from  which  the  speech  popularly  took  its 
name,  hurled  by  the  little-known,  dashing  young  Westerner, 
marked  a  high  point  in  American  politics. 

The  minority  amendments  were  defeated;  the  majority  plat- 
form for  which  Bryan  spoke  was  adopted.  The  placing  of  candi- 
dates in  nomination  followed.  They  were,  Richard  P.  Bland  of 
Missouri,  Governor  Claude  Matthews  of  Indiana,  Former  Gov- 
ernor Horace  Boies  of  Iowa,  Senator  J.  C..S.  Blackburn  of  Ken- 
tucky, John  R.  McLean  of  Ohio,  Robert  E.  Pattison  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Sylvester  Pennoyer  of  Oregon. 


Known    to    Millions — A 


©  Underwood  &  Underwood    photo. 

characteristic    speaking   pose    of   the    "Silver 
Tongued  Orator." 


"THE  CROSS  OF  GOLD"  127 

Bryan  left  the  convention  hall  at  the  close  of  the  afternoon 
session  and  went  to  his  hotel  room.  It  had  been  arranged  that 
the  Nebraska  delegation  was  to  make  no  formal  nomination, 
and  it  came  as  a  surprise  when  word  reached  Bryan  that  Henry 
T.  Lewis  of  Georgia  had  presented  his  name.  Five  ballots 
followed.  In  the  first,  Bryan  received  137  votes.  The  fifth  found 
him  with  652  votes,  only  768  out  of  the  930  delegates  voting. 
On  motion  of  Senator  Turpie  the  nomination  was  made 
unanimous.  Arthur  Sewall  of  Maine  was  nominated  for 
Vice-President. 

Bryan  was  fond  of  adding,  when  he  told  of  the  convention 
and  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  still  believed  that  money  was 
not  necessary  to  secure  a  Presidential  nomination,  that  his  entire 
expenses  while  attending  the  convention  were  one  hundred  dollars. 


CHAPTER  X 


The  First  Campaign 

Campaign  Tour  Sets  Record — First  Campaign  Speech  at  Madalin, 
N.  Y. — West  to  Chicago — Labor  Day  Speech  in  Chicago — First 
Sliver  Horse-shoe — Crowds  Night  and  Day — This  Swing  Totals 
3,808  Miles— Third  Trip  Starts— Heckled  by  Yale  Students- 
Takes  Boston  by  Storm — From  New  England  West  Again — Last 
Speech  at  Chicago — Third  Trip  Ends,  18,009  Miles — Election  Day 
— McKinley  Wins — Beaten  But  Not  Defeated. 

No  candidate  before  or  since  ever  engaged  in  such  a  campaign 
as  did  Bryan  in  the  campaign  of  1896.  No  one  ever  traveled  so 
many  miles ;  no  one  addressed  so  many  people ;  no  one  made  so  many 
speeches  long  and  short,  all  in  a  period  of  two  months  and  a  half, 
as  did  Bryan.  His  total  of  18,009  miles,  5,000,000  people  addressed, 
600  more  or  less  formal  speeches  made,  and  no  one  knows  how 
many  informal  talks,  still  stands  as  a  political  record. 

In  the  middle  of  August,  after  his  speech  of  acceptance  at 
Madison  Square  Garden,  he  traveled  northward  through  New  York 
state. 

The  talk  at  Rhinebeck  and  the  first  real  campaign  speech  at 
Madalin,  extracts  of  which  follow,  are  good  examples  of  what  he 
was  telling  the  voters  during  that  swing  through  hostile  territory. 

From  the  Rhinebeck,  N.  Y .,  Speech: 

"I  think  I  can  go  further  even  than  the  chairman  of  this  im- 
promptu meeting.  He  says  that  to  be  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  to  be  greater  than  to  be  a  Roman,  or  a  king.  But  few 
can  be  President,  and  I  rejoice  that  I  live  in  a  land  where  to  be  a 
citizen  is  greater  than  to  be  a  king.  I  rejoice  that  I  live  in  a  land 
where  those  who  exercise  authority  derive  that  authority  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed  and  do  not  rule  by  the  right  divine. 

"In  this  land,  whether  we  live  along  the  Hudson,  or  on  the 

128 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  129 

Western  prairies,  we  stand  upon  a  common  plane  and  we  participate 
in  a  government  which  represents  us  all.  We  may  belong  to  dif- 
ferent parties,  but  I  trust  I  may  be  able  to  express  the  desire  of 
each  of  you,  as  well  as  of  myself,  when  I  say  that  we  ought  to 
belong  at  all  times  to  that  party  which,  in  our  judgment,  will  enable 
us  best  to  serve  our  country. 

"Parties  are  instruments,  not  ends.  They  are  the  means  we  use 
to  secure  that  which  we  believe  to  be  best  for  us,  for  our  families, 
and  for  our  fellows.  Issues  arise  from  time  to  time,  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  citizen  who  loves  his  country,  and  who  appreciates 
the  responsibilities  which  rest  upon  him,  to  study  each  issue  as  it 
arises. 

"I  have  visited  some  of  your  beautiful  villas  along  the  Hudson. 
I  have  been  charmed  with  their  beauty,  but  when  you  study  this 
question,  remember  that  those  who,  instead  of  occupying  these 
magnificent  places,  must  toil  all  day  under  the  summer  sun,  have 
just  as  much  interest  in  the  money  question  as  anybody  else.  Re- 
member, that  this  question  can  not  be  viewed  from  the  standpoint 
of  any  class  of  people. 

"It  reaches  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  land,  and  you 
should  make  your  view  broad  enough  to  comprehend  them  all,  be- 
cause I  believe  I  speak  the  truth  when  I  say  that  the  prosperity  of 
the  well-to-do  rests  upon  the  prosperity  of  those  who  toil,  and  that 
you  can  not  have  a  financial  policy  which  brings  distress  to  those 
who  create  wealth  without,  in  the  end,  reaching  those  who  rest 
upon  these  toilers.  And,  more  than  that,  you  can  not  have  a  policy 
which  brings  prosperity  to  the  masses  without  the  prosperity  proving 
of  benefit  to  all  mankind." 

From  the  Madalin,  N.  Y.,  Speech: 

"We  are  entering  upon  a  campaign  which  is  a  remarkable  one 
in  many  respects.  Heretofore,  at  least  during  the  last  twenty-five 
or  thirty  years,  each  party  has  gone  into  the  campaign  practically 


130  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

solid,  presenting  a  united  front  against  the  opposing  party.  But  in 
this  campaign  there  has  been  a  bolt  from  practically  every  conven- 
tion which  has  been  held.  What  does  this  mean?  It  means  that 
convictions  are  deeper  this  year  than  they  have  been  heretofore. 

"It  means  that  people  are  not  so  willing  now  as  they  have  been 
to  allow  the  platform  of  a  party  to  control  their  action.  Men  are 
thinking  this  year  with  more  of  earnestness  and  intensity  than  they 
have  in  recent  years,  and  the  results  of  this  thinking  will  be  mani- 
fested when  the  time  comes  to  register  the  will  of  this  great  nation, 
and  between  that  time  and  this  hour  we  expect  to  present  to  those 
who  must  act  upon  the  questions  the  issues  of  this  campaign. 

"When  our  party  at  Chicago  wrote  the  platform  which  it  did, 
we  knew  that  it  would  offend  some  people. 

"Do  you  remember  the  Good  Book  tells  us  that  some  1,800  years 
ago  a  man  named  Demetrius  complained  of  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  Why?  He  said,  'It  destroys  the  business  in  which  we  are 
engaged;  we  are  making  images  for  the  worship  of  Diana,  and 
these  people  say  that  they  be  not  gods  that  are  made  with  hands.' 

"But  Demetrius  was  much  like  men  who  have  lived  since  his 
day.  When  he  made  up  his  mind  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
interfered  with  his  business  he  didn't  go  out  and  say  to  the  world, 
'Our  business  is  being  injured  and  we  are  mad/  What  did  he  say? 
He  said,  'Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.' 

"We  have  some  today  who  are  very  much  like  Demetrius.  They 
know  that  the  restoration  of  bimetalism  destroys  the  business  in 
which  they  have  been  engaged. 

"But  when  they  make  public  speeches  they  don't  say  that  the 
Democratic  party  is  wrong  because  it  interferes  with  their  business. 
What  do  they  say?  They  say,  'Great  is  sound  money;  great  is  an 
honest  dollar/ 

"I  assert  that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  those  who  produce 
wealth  as  well  as  those  who  exchange  it,  have  sufficient  patriotism 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  131 

and  sufficient  intelligence  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  every  question 
which  has  arisen  or  which  will  arise,  no  matter  how  long  our 
government  may  endure.  The  great  political  questions  are,  in  their 
final  analysis,  great  moral  questions,  and  it  requires  no  extended 
experience  in  the  handling  of  money  to  enable  a  man  to  tell  right 
from  wrong. 

"And,  more  than  this,  this  money  question  will  not  be  settled 
until  the  great  common  people  act  upon  it.  No  question  is  settled 
until  the  masses  settle  it.  Abraham  Lincoln  said  that  the  Lord  must 
have  loved  the  common  people,  because  He  made  so  many  of  them. 
He  was  right  about  it. 

"The  common  people  are  the  only  people  who  have  ever  sup- 
ported a  reform  that  had  for  its  object  the  benefit  of  the  human 
race." 

The  trip  led  south  and  west,  through  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  then  to  Chicago,  where  Mrs.  Bryan  left  the  party  to 
go  to  Lincoln.  There  were  speeches  all  the  way.  No  one  can  tell 
what  Bryan  said  so  well  as  Bryan,  so  let  him  speak  for  himself. 

From  the  Erie,  Pa.,  Speech: 

"Offices  cut  no  figure  in  this  campaign.  I  believe  my  experience 
has  been  rather  an  unusual  one.  The  people  who  have  come  to  me 
have  come  with  suggestions  as  to  what  can  be  done  to  help  the  cause 
and  no  one  has  come  to  ask  me  for  the  promise  of  an  office  in  case 
of  my  election.  I  have  not  discussed  patronage  with  anybody.  I 
shall  not  discuss  patronage  with  anybody  during  this  campaign.  A 
man  who,  in  the  midst  of  a  great  battle,  stops  to  negotiate  as  to 
what  official  position  he  is  to  occupy  when  this  battle  is  over  is 
unworthy  to  hold  any  position." 

From  the  Buffalo,  N.  Y '.,  Speech: 

"Our  opponents  tell  us  that  they  will  try  to  secure  an  inter- 
national agreement,  and  that  they  simply  desire  to  maintain  the  gold 
standard  until  other  nations  will  help  us  to  let  go.    Can  you  expect 


132  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

the  restoration  of  bimetalism  from  those  who  wrote  the  St.  Louis 
platform?  Never,  until  you  can  gather  grapes  from  thorns  and 
figs  from  thistles.  Those  who  are  responsible  for  the  gold  standard 
are  not  the  ones  to  whom  we  must  look  for  deliverance.  As  well 
might  Pharoah  have  been  expected  to  lead  the  children  of  Israel 
out  of  bondage,  as  to  expect  the  Republican  party  to  break  the 
shackles  of  the  gold  standard." 

From  the  Homellsville,  N.  Y.,  Speech: 

"It  is  the  object,  or  at  least  should  be,  of  public  speakers  to  aid 
their  audiences  to  understand  the  merits  of  disputed  questions,  and 
it  is  an  evidence  of  sincerity  of  purpose  when  a  person  discusses 
public  issues  so  plainly  and  clearly  that  one  can  understand  just 
what  is  said  and  meant.  When  ambiguous  language  is  used,  when 
obscure  expressions  are  employed,  it  is  an  indication  that  the  person 
speaking  has  something  to  conceal.  The  Bible  speaks  of  certain 
persons  who  love  darkness  rather  than  light,  and  it  gives  a  reason 
for  that  peculiar  affection.  Do  you  remember  what  the  reason  is? 
We  are  told  that  they  love  darkness  rather  than  light  because  their 
deeds  are  evil.  Whenever  I  find  darkness  employed  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  a  question,  or  in  the  statement  of  a  position,  I  am  irre- 
sistibly reminded  of  that  Bible  passage,  and  conclude  that  the  person 
who  attempts  to  be  obscure  does  so  because  he  is  not  willing  that 
the  people  should  know  what  he  believes  and  what  he  desires  to 
accomplish.  When  I  hear  a  man  talking  about  'sound  money'  with- 
out defining  it,  I  think  that,  perhaps,  he  loves  darkness  rather  than 
light  because  his  deeds  are  evil. 

"When  I  find  a  man  talking  about  an  'honest  dollar'  without 
telling  what  he  means  by  an  'honest  dollar,'  I  am  afraid  that  I  have 
found  another  man  who  loves  darkness  rather  than  light  because 
his  deeds  are  evil." 

From  the  Springfield,  0.,  Speech: 

"For  a  few  moments  only  I  shall  occupy  your  attention,  because 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  133 

a  large  portion  of  my  voice  has  been  left  along  the  line  of  travel, 
where  it  is  still  calling  sinners  to  repentance.  I  am  told  that  in 
this  city  you  manufacture  more  agricultural  implements  than  are 
manufactured  in  any  other  city  in  the  country.  I  am  glad  to  talk 
to  people  who  recognize  their  dependence  upon  the  farmers.  I  have 
had  occasion  to  talk  to  some  who  seem  to  imagine  that  the  harder 
they  could  make  the  condition  of  the  farmers  the  better  would  be 
their  own.  I  am  glad  to  talk  to  you  who  recognize  that  the  dollars 
which  you  receive  are  earned  first  by  those  who  convert  the  natural 
resources  of  this  country  into  money,  who  till  the  soil  and  from 
its  fertility  bring  forth  this  nation's  primary  wealth.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  farmers  and  the  laboring  men  are  the  foundation  of 
society.  Upon  this  foundation  the  commercial  classes  rest,  and  the 
financier  acts  as  a  sort  of  a  roof  over  the  structure.  You  can  take 
off  the  roof  and  put  on  another,  but  you  can  not  destroy  the  founda- 
tion without  destroying  the  whole  building.  Goldsmith  well  ex- 
pressed it  when  he  said: 

'Princes  and  lords  may  flourish,  or  may  fade; 
A  breath  can  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made : 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  their  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed,  can  never  be  supplied.' 
"The  Democratic  party,  in  its  platform  at  Chicago,  is  pleading 
the  cause  of  a  nation's  peasantry  that  must  not  be  destroyed.    Upon 
the  prosperity  of  the  great  producers  of  wealth,  whom  we  call  the 
masses,  as  distinguished  from  the  classes,  depends  all  the  prosperity 
of  this  city.    If  you  have  a  gold  standard  you  legislate  the  value  of 
property  down.    Do  you  remember  how,  when  we  were  young,  we 
used  to  play  on  the  teeter  board?     When  one  end  of  the  board 
was  up  the  other  was  down.    It  has  remained  for  modern  financiers 
to  declare  that  you  can  keep  both  ends  of  the  teeter  board  up  at 
once.    They  seem  to  think  that  money  can  be  dear  and  prices  good 
at  the  same  time. 


134  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"I  understand  that  these  gold  standard  Democrats  have  declared 
their  emblem  to  be  the  hickory  tree.  We  have  heard  about  Satan 
stealing  the  livery  of  Heaven,  but  we  have  never  before  seen  men 
try  to  use  the  name  of  that  great  hero,  Jackson,  to  undo  all 
that  he  tried  to  do.  Talk  about  Andrew  Jackson  belonging  to  the 
gold  Democracy!  Go  back  to  the  time  of  Andrew  Jackson,  and 
who  were  arrayed  against  him?  The  very  classes  which,  after  hav- 
ing failed  in  their  effort  to  use  the  Democratic  party  for  private 
gain,  are  now  trying  to  elect  the  Republican  candidate  for  President 
by  nominating  a  gold  standard  candidate.  Take  a  hickory  tree  for 
their  emblem  ?  Why  do  they  not  take  something  more  appropriate  ? 
Why  do  they  not  put  upon  their  ballot  the  picture  of  an  owl?  Noth- 
ing could  be  more  appropriate.  It  looks  wise  and  does  its  work  in 
the  dark.  Or,  if  they  do  not  like  the  owl,  let  them  take  the  mole. 
It  is  a  smooth  animal  and  works  underground  all  the  time.  But 
they  ought  to  spare  the  sacred  memory  of  the  man  who  was  the 
hero  of  New  Orleans,  and  whose  resting  place,  the  Hermitage,  is 
the  mecca  of  all  who  love  Democratic  principles  still." 

Bryan  returned  to  Chicago  for  Labor  Day  and  there  addressed 
a  huge  crowd  of  working  men.  It  was  here  that  he  received  the 
first  horseshoe.  This  one  was  of  solid  silver  and  was  presented 
by  a  committee  of  horseshoers.  It  was  the  first  of  more  than  a 
score  that  were  given  him  during  his  campaign. 

From  the  Chicago  Labor  Day  Speech: 

"Labor  Day  has  become  a  fixed  event  among  our  holidays,  and 
it  is  well  that  it  is  so,  because  on  this  day,  all  over  the  nation,  those 
who  are  engaged  in  the  production  of  wealth  meet  with  each  other 
to  discuss  the  questions  in  which  working  men  are  especially  in- 
terested and  to  emphasize  before  the  world  that  there  is  nothing 
dishonorable  in  the  fact  that  one  earns  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
his  face.     I  am  glad  to  stand  in  the  presence  of  those  to  whom 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  135 

this  nation  is  so  largely  indebted  for  all  that  it  has  been,  for  all 
that  it  is  now,  and  for  all  that  it  can  hope  to  be. 

"I  am  not  indulging  in  idle  flattery  when  I  say  to  you  that  no 
other  people  are  so  important  to  the  welfare  of  society  as  those 
whose  brain  and  muscle  convert  the  natural  resources  of  the  world 
into  material  wealth. 

"Let  me  now  read  to  you  the  langauge  used  by  one  whose  words 
have  won  for  him  the  title  of  the  wisest  of  men — Solomon.  He 
said :  'Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches ;  feed  me  with  food  con- 
venient for  me,  lest  I  be  full,  and  deny  Thee  and  say,  who  is  the 
Lord?  Or  lest  I  be  poor,  and  steal  and  take  the  name  of  my  God 
in  vain/ 

"Solomon  desired  neither  poverty  nor  riches.  He  rightly  esti- 
mated the  dangers  which  lie  at  either  extreme  and  preferred  the 
— I  was  about  to  say,  golden,  but  will  call  it  the — golden  and  silver 
mean.  Neither  great  wealth  nor  abject  poverty  furnishes  the  soil 
in  which  the  best  civilization  grows.  Those  who  are  hard  pressed 
by  poverty  lose  the  ambition,  the  inspiration  and  the  high  purpose 
which  lead  men  to  the  greatest  achievements;  while  those  who 
possess  too  great  riches  lack  the  necessity  for  that  labor  which  is 
absolutely  essential  to  the  development  of  all  that  is  useful.  Solomon 
was  right,  therefore,  when  he  praised  the  intermediate  condition, 
for  the  great  middle  classes  are  the  bulwark  of  society,  and  from 
them  has  come  almost  all  the  good  that  has  blessed  the  human  race. 

"The  highest  compliment  ever  paid  to  any  class  of  people  was 
paid  to  those  who  are  called  the  common  people.  When  we  use 
that  term  there  are  some  who  say  that  we  are  appealing  to  the  pas- 
sions of  the  masses ;  there  are  some  who  apply  the  name  demagogue 
to  anybody  who  speaks  of  the  common  people.  When  the  meek 
and  lowly  Nazarene  came  to  preach  'peace  on  earth,  good  will  to- 
ward men/  he  was  not  welcomed  by  those  who  'devour  widow's 


136  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

houses  and  for  a  pretense  make  long  prayers/  By  whom  was  he 
welcomed?  The  Scriptures  tell  us  that  when  he  gave  that  great 
commandment,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,'  the  com- 
mon people  heard  him  gladly.  This  I  repeat,  is  the  highest  com- 
pliment that  has  ever  been  paid  to  any  class  of  people,  and  the 
common  people  are  the  only  people  who  have  ever  received  gladly 
the  doctrines  of  humanity  and  equality. 

"I  am  not  here  to  tell  you  what  opinions  you  should  hold.  I 
am  not  here  to  discuss  the  measures  which,  in  my  judgment,  would 
relieve  present  conditions.  But  as  an  American  citizen  speaking 
to  American  citizens,  I  have  a  right  to  urge  you  to  recognize  the 
responsibilities  which  rest  upon  you,  and  to  prepare  yourselves  for 
the  intelligent  discharge  of  every  political  duty  imposed  upon  you. 
Government  was  not  instituted  among  men  to  confer  special  privi- 
leges upon  any  one,  but  rather  to  protect  all  citizens  alike  in  order 
that  they  may  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  own  toil.  It  is  the  duty  of 
government  to  make  the  conditions  surrounding  the  people  as  favor- 
able as  possible.  You  must  have  your  opinions  and,  by  expressing 
those  opinions,  must  have  your  influence  in  determining  what  these 
conditions  shall  be.  If  you  find  a  large  number  of  men  out  of 
employment,  you  have  a  right  to  inquire  whether  such  idleness  is 
due  to  natural  laws  or  whether  it  is  due  to  vicious  legislation.  If 
it  is  due  to  legislation,  then  it  is  not  only  your  right  but  your  duty 
to  change  that  legislation.  The  greatest  menace  to  the  employed 
laborer  today  is  the  increasing  army  of  the  unemployed.  It  menaces 
every  man  who  holds  a  position  and,  if  that  army  continues  to 
increase,  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  those  who  are,  as  you 
may  say,  on  the  ragged  edge  will  leave  the  ranks  of  the  employed 
to  join  those  who  are  out  of  work. 

"I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  if  you  increase  the  number 
of  those  who  can  not  find  work  and  yet  must  eat,  you  will  drive 
men  to  desperation  and  increase  the  ranks  of  the  criminals  by  the 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  137 

addition  of  many  who  would  be  earning  bread  under  better  con- 
ditions. If  you  find  idleness  and  crime  increasing,  it  is  not  your 
privilege  only,  it  is  a  duty  which  you  owe  to  yourselves  and  to  your 
country,  to  consider  whether  the  conditions  can  not  be  improved. 

"There  is  one  citizen  in  this  country  who  can  prove  himself  un- 
worthy of  the  ballot  which  has  been  given  to  him,  and  he  is  the 
citizen  who  either  sells  it  or  permits  it  to  be  wrested  from  him 
under  coercion.  Whenever  a  man  offers  you  pay  for  your  vote  he 
insults  your  manhood,  and  you  ought  to  have  no  respect  for  him. 
And  the  man,  who  instead  of  insulting  your  manhood  by  an  offer 
of  purchase,  attempts  to  intimidate  you  or  coerce  you,  insults  your 
citizenship  as  well  as  your  manhood. 

"My  friends,  in  this  world  people  have  just  about  as  much  of 
good  as  they  deserve.  At  least,  the  best  way  to  secure  anything  that 
is  desirable  is  to  first  deserve  that  thing.  If  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try want  good  laws,  they  themselves  must  secure  them.  If  the 
people  want  to  repeal  bad  laws,  they  alone  have  the  power  to  do  it. 
In  a  government  like  ours  every  year  offers  the  citizen  an  oppor- 
tunity to  prove  his  love  of  country.  Every  year  offers  him  an 
opportunity  to  manifest  his  patriotism." 

Bryan,  remember,  was  making  not  one  speech,  but  sometimes 
twenty  speeches  a  day.  They  would  not  let  him  alone.  At  every 
station  crowds  were  sure  to  be  on  the  platform  watching  to  see  the 
Democratic  candidate  pass  through.  And  if  the  train  paused  for 
so  much  as  a  minute  they  were  certain  to  ask  for  a  few  words, 
meanwhile  defeating  their  own  request  by  crowding  forward  to  get 
hold  of  the  candidate's  hand.  It  wasn't  unusual  for  Bryan  to  get 
up  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  travel  and  speak  all  day,  and  not 
get  to  bed  until  after  midnight.  Not  one  day,  but  day  after  day. 
How  he  stood  the  strain  was  a  marvel  to  those  who  accompanied 
him. 


138  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

From  Chicago  he  made  a  short  jump  to  Milwaukee,  and  there 
he  said  in  part : 

"I  learned  early  in  life  that  a  public  officer  was  but  a  public 
servant,  and  I  think  that  it  is  an  idea  which  we  ought  always  to 
bear  in  mind.  It  is  well  for  the  officer  himself  to  remember  it,  and 
equally  important  for  the  people  to  remember  it.  A  public  officer 
is  simply  a  hired  man  employed  at  a  fixed  salary  for  a  certain  time 
to  do  certain  work.  He  is  not  in  office  merely  because  he  wants  to 
be;  his  only  reason  for  being  there  ought  to  be  that  those  whom 
he  serves  want  him  to  be  there.  In  other  words,  the  officer  is  merely 
chosen  by  the  people  to  do  work  which  they  must  have  done,  and 
they  have  no  reason  for  choosing  him  except  that  they  believe  that 
he  can  do  that  work  for  them.  Officers  are  not  elected  to  think  for 
the  people ;  people  are  supposed  to  think  for  themselves.  They  are 
elected  to  act  for  the  people,  simply  because  the  people  are  so 
numerous  that  they  cannot  act  for  themselves.  An  officer,  I  might 
say,  is  a  necessary  evil.  It  would  be  better  for  the  people  if  they 
could  act  for  themselves,  but  that  being  impossible,  they  must  do 
the  next  best  thing  and  act  through  someone  else;  and  the  beauty 
of  our  form  of  government  is  that,  instead  of  acting  through  some- 
body who  rules  by  right  divine,  our  people  act  through  representa- 
tives whom  they  themselves  choose  and  whom  they  can  turn  out 
of  office  whenever  they  so  desire. 

"Cicero,  it  is  related,  once  said  to  his  son:  'Do  not  go  into  the 
retail  business;  the  retail  business  is  a  small  and  vulgar  business. 
Go  into  the  wholesale  business;  that  is  a  respectable  business/ 

"My  friends,  this  doctrine  seems  to  be  applied  to  those  who 
would  injure  the  government.  If  a  man  attempts  to  do  the  govern- 
ment a  small  injury,  he  is  a  contemptible  man  and  ought  to  be 
punished,  but  if  he  attempts  to  do  the  government  a  great  injury, 
he  goes  into  the  wholesale  business  and  becomes  respectable,  and 
then  the  government  must  negotiate  with  him.    When  our  Consti- 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  139 

tution  was  based  upon  the  theory  that  all  men  were  created  equal 
and  stood  equal  before  the  law,  there  was  no  provision  in  there 
making  an  exception  in  behalf  of  financiers  and  asserting  that  they 
are  greater  than  anybody  else. 

"When  will  this  policy  end?  There  is  but  one  end  to  it;  there 
is  only  one  way  to  stop  this  constant  issue  of  bonds,  and  that  is  to 
return  to  the  principle  of  bimetalism  and  allow  the  government  to 
exercise  the  option  of  redeeming  its  coin  obligations  in  either  gold 
or  silver.  When  I  have  seen  how  they  go  to  the  treasury  and 
draw  out  the  gold  and  then  demand  bonds,  and  then  draw  out  gold 
to  pay  for  the  bonds,  and  so  on  without  limit,  I  have  been  reminded 
of  a  trick  that  a  mother  played  upon  her  boy.  He  was  taking  some 
medicine  and  the  following  dialogue  took  place  between  him  and  a 
visitor:  'Do  you  like  that  medicine?'  'No,  sir.'  'Well,  you  seem 
to  take  it  very  nicely.'  'Mamma  gives  me  five  cents  every  time  I 
take  a  dose  of  it.'  'What  do  you  do  with  the  money?'  'I  put  it 
in  the  bank.'  'And  what  do  you  do  with  the  money  in  the  bank?' 
'Oh,  mamma  uses  that  to  buy  more  medicine  with.' 

"Our  opponents  tell  us  that,  if  we  will  retire  the  greenbacks 
and  treasury  notes,  this  drain  on  the  treasury  will  stop.  I  ask 
them  how  it  will  stop.  Why,  they  say  that  the  banks  will  issue  paper 
money  and  assume  the  obligation  of  furnishing  whatever  gold  is 
needed  for  export." 

After  returning  to  Chicago,  the  Commoner  went  home  for  an  all 
too  brief  rest.  It  was  hardly  rest  either,  for  the  home  folks  all 
wanted  to  greet  the  fellow  townsman  who  was  bringing  so  much 
honor  to  himself  and  to  them.  On  this  second  trip — for  the  first  was 
the  trip  to  New  York — Bryan  traveled  3,898  miles.  He  was  getting 
used  to  having  people  call  him  "Billy."  It  was  the  democracy  of 
politics  that  brought  him  the  familiar  title. 

Also  he  was  getting  used  to  having  people  wake  him  up  at  night 


140  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

and  demand  that  he  shove  up  his  sleeping  car  window  and  lean  out 
to  say  a  drowsy  "hello"  and  reach  out  a  hand  to  be  shaken. 

Just  a  few  days  later  saw  Bryan  started  on  the  third  and  by  far 
the  longest  swing  around  the  country.  Mrs.  Bryan  remained  at  home 
for  a  time  to  see  the  children  safely  in  school.  She  did  not  rejoin 
the  tour  until  it  reached  St.  Paul.  Bryan  regretted  her  absence, 
because  she  could  do  what  he  could  not  do — disappoint  people  by 
insisting  that  her  husband  take  care  of  his  health  and  get  some  rest. 

The  third  trip  began  with  a  stop  at  St.  Louis,  then  through  Ken- 
tucky, into  the  Carolinas,  Virginia,  Washington,  Delaware,  Mary- 
land, and  back  to  Washington  for  a  Sunday.  Bryan  never  cam- 
paigned on  Sunday.  And  this  Sunday  morning  he  spent  attending 
a  service  at  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  church.  He  did 
not  guess  that  twenty-nine  years  later  his  body  was  to  lie  in  state 
in  that  same  church  and  that  representatives  of  the  army  and  navy, 
come  to  do  honor  to  his  memory,  would  sit  in  the  same  famous 
Lincoln  pew  where  he  sat  on  that  Sunday  morning  in  '96. 

Here  are  more  examples  of  the  words  with  which  Bryan  cam- 
paigned. 

From  the  Lexington,  Ky.,  Speech: 

"In  the  olden  times  under  the  rule  of  those  who  wielded  the 
scepter,  as  they  said,  by  right  divine,  complaint  was  answered  with 
the  lash,  but  now  the  just  complaint  of  the  toiling  millions  of  the 
United  States  is  answered  by  the  charge  that  they  are  anarchists. 

"I  protest  against  the  use  of  that  name  for  a  purpose  which 
deprives  it  of  all  its  terrors.  Those  who  are  opposed  to  us  can  not 
afford  to  place  the  farmers  and  laborers  of  the  country  in  the  posi- 
tion of  enemies  of  the  government,  because  they  are  the  only  friends 
the  government  has  ever  had." 

From  the  Raleigh,  N.  C,  Speech: 

"At  last  we  have  the  line  drawn  so  that  a  man  can  take  his 
place  on  one  side  or  the  other,  and  the  result  is  that  a  great  many 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  141 

Republicans  who  had  hoped  to  secure  bimetalism  in  the  Repub- 
lican party  have  now  given  up  hope  and  joined  with  those  who  de- 
mand the  immediate  restoration  of  free  coinage,  and  some  in  the 
Democratic  party  who  had  sought  to  further  the  gold  standard  by 
secret  means  have  now  joined  with  the  Republican  party,  and  a 
few,  instead  of  going  all  the  way,  have  stopped  at  the  half  way 
point  to  rest  a  moment  before  completing  their  journey.  You  may 
rest  assured  that  the  lines  now  drawn  are  drawn,  not  temporarily, 
but  permanently.  The  man  who  leaves  the  Democratic  party  today, 
when  the  party  is  taking  up  its  fight  for  the  common  people,  must 
understand  that  if  he  comes  back,  he  must  come  back  in  sack  cloth 
and  ashes.  Not  only  that,  but  he  must  bring  forth  works  meet  for  re- 
pentance. The  men  who  are  in  the  employ  of  trusts  and  syndicates 
and  combinations  are  not  leaving  the  party  for  their  country's  good ; 
they  are  leaving  their  party  for  their  party's  good. 

"There  was  a  banker  down  in  Oklahoma  who  told  a  depositor 
that  money  was  not  as  important  as  it  used  to  be.  'Why,'  said 
the  banker,  'if  you  deposit  money  in  my  bank  you  give  a  check  for 
a  given  amount  and  it  goes  through  various  hands,  and  finally  some 
one  deposits  it  at  the  bank.  No  money  changes  hands.  I  merely 
transfer  the  amount  on  the  books  from  one  account  to  the  other. 
Don't  you  see,  money  is  not  as  important  as  it  once  was?'  The  de- 
positor replied,  T  am  glad  to  hear  that.  I  have  been  keeping  my 
money  on  deposit  with  the  idea  that  it  was  just  as  important  as 
ever ;  but  now  that  you  have  shown  me  my  mistake,  I  will  draw  out 
my  money  and  go  on  checking  as  I  did  before.'  'Well,  in  your 
case  that  will  not  work,'  said  the  banker.  No,  it  won't  work !  The 
very  people  who  tell  you  that  money  is  not  as  important  as  it  used 
to  be  are  the  ones  who  regard  money  as  just  as  important  as  it  ever 
was  if  you  owe  them  and  cannot  pay." 

From  the  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  Speech: 

"I  am  glad  to   visit  this  historic  place.     They  say  that  here 


142  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

George  Washington  once  threw  a  silver  dollar  across  the  river;  but 
remember,  my  friends,  that  when  he  threw  that  silver  dollar  across 
the  river  it  fell  and  remained  on  American  soil.  They  thought  that 
it  was  a  great  feat  then,  but  we  have  developed  so  rapidly  in  the 
last  hundred  years  that  we  have  financiers  who  can  leave  George 
Washington's  achievement  far  behind.  We  have  financiers  who 
have  been  able  to  throw  gold  dollars  all  the  way  across  the  Atlantic, 
and  then  bring  them  back  by  an  issue  of  bonds. 

"Would  you  believe,  my  friends,  that  a  silver  dollar  which  was 
good  enough  to  be  handled  by  the  father  of  his  country  is  so  mean 
a  thing  as  to  excite  the  contempt  of  many  of  our  so-called  financiers? 
Well,  it  is.  It  is  so  mean  that  they  do  not  like  it.  Why,  our  op- 
ponents tell  us  that  they  want  a  dollar  that  will  go  all  over  the  world. 
We  have  had  dollars  which  have  gone  over  the  world  so  rapidly 
that  we  want  a  dollar  that  will  stay  at  home  without  a  curfew  law. 

"Our  opponents  tell  us  that  they  want  a  dollar  which  they  can  see 
anywhere  in  the  world  if  they  travel  abroad.  I  am  not  so  much  wor- 
ried about  our  dollars  which  travel  abroad.  I  want  a  dollar  that  will 
not  be  ashamed  to  look  a  farmer  in  the  face." 

From  the  Baltimore,  Md.,  Speech: 

"We  have  commenced  a  warfare  which  will  end  now  if  it  ends 
in  success,  but  which  will  never  end  until  it  does  end  in  success. 
No  question  is  settled  until  it  is  settled  right.  Neither  fraud 
nor  intimidation  nor  corruption  ever  settled  a  question  right.  They 
tell  us  that  our  troubles  come  from  agitation ;  that  if  we  would  stop 
agitating  all  would  be  well.  We  reply  that  when  all  is  well  agita- 
tion will  stop  of  itself.  They  find  fault  because  people  complain;  let 
them  take  away  the  cause  of  complaint  and  the  complaint  will  cease. 
We  complain  because  the  conditions  are  hard  for  the  producers  of 
wealth,  and  then  our  opponents  complain  at  our  complaint,  instead 
of  complaining  of  the  conditions  which  give  rise  to  our  complaint. 
They  seem  to  have  the  idea  which  is  said  to  have  prevailed  at  one 


©  Underwood  &  Underwood   photo. 


The   Wife — One   of  the  last   pictures  taken  of  Mrs.  Bryan  before  her 
husband's  death.     Posed  for  at  the  Florida  home. 


Fotogram. 


Great  Grandfather — At  their  Florida  home.    From  left  to  right:  Bryan; 
Mrs.    Bryan;    Mrs.    William    Meeker,    granddaughter;    Mrs.    Reginald 
Owen,  daughter;  in  Mrs.  Owen's  lap,the  great-granddaughter  born  dur- 
ing the  1924  convention;  and  Miss  Ruth  Meeker. 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  145 

time— namely,  that  it  is  not  wrong  to  steal,  but  that  it  is  a  crime 
to  be  caught  stealing.  We  denounce  the  gold  standard  as  wrong; 
we  denounce  the  dollar  under  a  gold  standard  as  a  robber.  Do 
you  think  that  we  have  reached  the  end  of  the  gold  standard? 
There  is  no  end.  Do  you  think  that  we  have  drained  the  cup  of 
sorrow  to  its  dregs?  No,  my  friends,  you  cannot  set  a  limit  to 
fianancial  depression  and  hard  times.  If  the  influences  which  are  at 
work  are  able  to  drive  silver  out  of  use  as  standard  money  here, 
those  same  influences  will  be  turned  toward  other  nations;  if  they 
succeed  here,  what  reason  have  we  to  believe  that  they  will  fail 
when  directed  against  weaker  nations?  Every  nation  which  goes 
to  the  gold  standard  makes  the  dollar  dearer  still,  and  as  the 
dollar  rises  in  value,  you  must  sacrifice  more  of  all  of  the  products 
of  toil  in  order  to  secure  it.  As  you  sacrifice  more  and  more,  you 
will  find  that  your  debts  virtually  increase  as  your  ability  to  pay 
your  debts  decreases,  and,  in  the  long  run,  the  capitalistic  classes 
will  devour  all  the  property. 

"Our  opponents  say  that  this  money  question  is  a  business 
question;  they  try  to  rid  it  of  sentiment.  But  there  is  not  much 
business  which  is  devoid  of  sentiment.  The  man  who  toils  all  day 
is  engaged  in  business,  but  why?  Because  he  is  working  for  those 
whom  he  loves  better  than  his  own  life.  He  accumulates  property; 
he  lays  aside  something  for  a  rainy  day,  but  why?  When  a  man 
accumulates,  you  call  it  a  matter  of  business,  and  yet,  my  friends, 
his  hopes  and  interests  are  entwined  about  his  accumulations  be- 
cause he  expects  that  after  he  is  gone,  his  own  flesh  and  blood 
will  enjoy  his  property.  Take  sentiment  from  life  and  there  is 
nothing  left.  When  our  opponents  tell  us  that  we  are  running  a 
sentimental  campaign  and  that  they  are  running  a  business  cam- 
paign, we  reply  to  them  that  we  are  simply  placing  the  heart  of  the 
masses  against  the  pocketbooks  of  a  few. 

"Some  one  has  said  that  no  one  can  write  a  poem  in  favor  of 


146  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

the  financial  policy  of  the  present  administration,  and  why?  Because 
there  is  nothing  in  it  to  appeal  to  the  sentiment  or  to  the  heart.  It 
would  require  a  large  reward  to  bring  out  a  poem  which  would 
portray  in  beautiful  language  the  advantage  of  having  a  syndicate 
run  the  Government  of  the  United  States." 

From  the  Wilmington,  Del,  Speech: 

"You  will  find  in  our  cities  preachers  of  the  gospel,  enjoying 
every  luxury  themselves,  who  are  indifferent  to  the  cries  of  dis- 
tress which  come  up  from  the  masses  of  the  people.  It  was  told  of 
a  princess  in  a  foreign  land  that,  when  someone  said  to  her,  The 
people  are  crying  for  bread/  she  replied,  'Why  don't  they  eat  cake  ?' 
Tell  some  of  these  ministers  of  the  gospel  that  men  out  of  work  are 
driven  into  crime,  and  they  cannot  understand  why  everyone  is  not 
as  well  off  as  themselves.  When  I  have  seen  preachers  of  the  gospel 
using  even  more  bitter  speech  than  politicians  against  the  clamorings 
of  the  people,  I  have  wondered  where  they  got  the  religion  that 
they  preach.  My  friends,  the  common  people  were  never  aided 
in  their  struggles  by  those  who  were  so  far  beyond  them  that  they 
could  not  feel  their  needs  and  sympathize  with  their  interests." 

From  Washington  it  was  New  Jersey,  then  Philadelphia. 

From  the  Philadelphia  Speech: 

"Your  city  is  called  Philadelphia,  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love. 
I  come  to  proclaim  to  you  the  gospel  that  is  described  by  the  name 
of  your  city,  and  yet  it  is  said  that  you  will  give  100,000  majority 
against  such  a  doctrine.  I  want  to  preach  financial  independence 
in  the  city  which  saw  the  Declaration  of  Independence  signed.  Do 
you  say  that  this  city,  in  which  the  forefathers  gathered  when  they 
were  willing  to  defy  all  foreign  powers  and  declare  their  political 
independence,  is  afraid  to  favor  financial  independence  ?  I  shall  not 
say  that  of  the  descendants  of  the  forefathers  of  one  hundred  years 
ago  unless  you  say  so  in  the  ballot  which  you  cast  next  November. 

"One  of  the  papers  said  that  I  'lacked  dignity.'     I  have  been 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  147 

looking  into  the  matter,  and  have  decided  that  I  would  rather  have 
it  said  that  I  lacked  dignity  than  to  have  it  said  that  I  lack  backbone 
to  meet  the  enemies  of  the  government  who  work  against  its  welfare 
in  Wall  street.  What  other  presidential  candidates  did  they  ever 
charge  with  lack  of  dignity?  (A  voice:  'Lincoln'.)  Yes,  my 
friends,  they  said  it  of  Lincoln.  (A  voice:  'Jackson'.)  Yes,  they 
said  it  of  Jackson.  (A  voice :  'And  Jefferson.')  Yes,  and  of  Jeffer- 
son ;  he  was  lacking  in  dignity,  too.  Now,  I  will  tell  you  how  digni- 
fied a  man  ought  to  be,  because,  you  know,  everybody  has  his  idea 
of  these  things.  I  think  a  man  ought  to  be  just  dignified  enough — 
not  too  dignified — and  not  lacking  in  dignity.  Now,  it  might  be  more 
dignified  for  me  to  stay  at  home  and  have  people  come  to  see  me; 
but  you  know  I  said  I  was  not  going  to  promise  to  give  anybody 
an  office,  and  therefore,  a  great  many  people  who  might  go  to  see 
a  candidate  under  some  circumstances  would  not  come  to  see  me  at 
all.  And  then,  too,  our  people  do  not  have  money  to  spare.  Why, 
our  people  are  the  people  who  want  more  money,  and  if  they  could 
come  all  the  way  to  Nebraska  to  see  me,  it  might  show  that  they 
have  money  enough  now. 

"I  do  not  like  to  be  lacking  in  any  of  the  essentials,  but  I  can- 
not see  that  there  is  any  lack  of  dignity  shown  if  I  come  before  the 
people  and  talk  to  them  and  tell  them  what  I  stand  for  and  what  I 
am  opposed  to." 

Then  to  Brooklyn,  and  on  into  New  England.  At  New  Haven 
Conn.,  Bryan  stopped  to  address  some  Yale  students  and  there  mel 
a  particularly  violent  brand  of  heckling.  He  did  not  hesitate  to 
scourge  the  moneyed  powers,  though  he  knew  that  it  was  that  same 
money  which  was  sending  some  of  his  auditors  to  college.  The  stu- 
dents' conduct  caused  much  comment,  some  favorable  to  them,  some 
quite  unfavorable. 

Bryan  quite  took  the  staid  old  city  of  Boston  by  storm.  When  he 
appeared  there  to  speak  on  the  famous  Common,  tremendous  mobs 


148  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

came  to  hear  him.  Dismayed  statisticians  recorded  the  crowd  be- 
tween 50,000  and  100,000.  Down  into  New  Jersey  again  the  trip 
swung,  then  into  New  York,  through  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  Ohio, 
and  on  to  St.  Louis  for  a  promised  attendance  at  the  convention 
of  the  Democratic  clubs  of  the  United  States.  On  to  Chicago  via 
Tennessee,  with  a  stop  at  Indianapolis,  where  he  was  the  guest  of 
Mayor  Taggart,  who  was  later  to  become  one  of  the  great  Dem- 
ocratic triumvirate  of  Murphy,  Taggart,  and  Brennan. 

In  Chicago,  Bryan  achieved  some  measure  of  comfort  when  the 
private  car,  the  "Idler,"  was  provided  for  him.  He  didn't  approve 
of  the  name,  but  he  appreciated  the  unaccustomed  luxury  of  not 
having  to  change  cars  any  more.  The  trip  led  north  into  Minne- 
sota. 

From  the  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  Speech: 

"The  money  question  is  not  too  deep  to  be  understood  by  the 
American  people.  The  great  questions  of  state  are,  after  all,  simple 
in  their  last  analysis.  Every  great  political  question  is  first  a  great 
economic  question,  and  every  great  economic  question  is  in  reality 
a  great  moral  question.  Questions  are  not  settled  until  the  right 
and  wrong  of  the  questions  are  determined.  Questions  are  not 
settled  by  a  discussion  of  the  details ;  they  are  not  settled  until  the 
people  grasp  the  fundamental  principles,  and  when  these  principles 
are  fully  comprehended,  then  the  people  settle  the  question  and 
they  settle  it  for  a  generation.  The  people  are  studying  the  money 
question,  studying  it  as  they  have  not  studied  it  before ;  aye,  study- 
ing it  as  they  have  been  studying  no  economic  question  before  in 
your  lifetime  or  mine;  and  studying  means  understanding.  To 
study  we  must  commence  at  the  foundation  and  reason  upward." 

After  Minneapolis  it  was  Michigan,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and 
once  more  Chicago. 

From  the  Monmouth,  III.,  Speech: 

"Is  it  not  strange  that  there  can  be  anybody  in  this  country  so 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  149 

far  removed  from  the  masses  of  the  people  as  to  think  that  the 
masses  of  the  people  are  being  well  cared  for?  No,  it  is  not  strange  ; 
it  is  as  old  as  history.  In  all  times,  in  all  countries  and  under  all 
conditions,  those  who  are  getting  along  well  enough,  as  a  rule,  do 
not  feel  for  those  who  are  suffering,  and,  therefore,  the  well-to-do 
never  reform  an  evil  or  bring  relief  from  a  bad  condition." 

One  last  speech  at  Chicago  and  the  third  great  trip  was  almost 
over.  He  went  back  to  Lincoln.  It  was  within  a  few  days  of  elec- 
tion. One  last  hasty  swing  through  the  home  state  and  the  cam- 
paign was  over.  The  record  total  was  18,009  miles.  Bryan  took  to 
his  bed  for  a  day,  fagged  out  with  the  supreme  effort. 

It  was  election  day. 

The  man  whom  millions  had  cheered,  the  man  whom  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  had  milled  about,  to  shake  his  hand  or  tug 
at  his  coat;  the  man  who  had  moved  men  to  tears  and  cheers  all 
up  and  down  this  land,  sat  in  his  home  at  Lincoln,  awaiting  the 
returns. 

Back  of  him  was  a  phenomenal  record  of  energy  and  oratory  in 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  campaigns  the  world  has  ever  witnessed. 
In  front  of  him  were  his  hopes  of  the  White  House  and  an  oppor- 
tunity to  translate  into  actuality  those  political  tenets  to  which  he 
was  dedicated  and  toward  which  his  impassioned  sincerity  had 
drawn  thousands,  millions. 

Around  and  about  the  Commoner,  as  he  waited,  were,  first  of 
all,  his  wife,  who  had  made  a  large  part  of  the  campaign  with  him; 
his  family  and  friends.  There  were  political  friends  there,  and 
humble  folk  from  round  about. 

The  room  was  literally  packed  with  gifts.  In  a  whimsy  that  had 
an  earnest  significance,  one  admirer  had  sent  Bryan  a  bouquet  of 
beautiful  chrysanthemums.  Sixteen  white  blossoms  and  one  large 
yellow  bloom,  in  symbolism  of  the  candidate's  stand  on  free  silver 
and  the  sixteen-to-one  ratio. 


150  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

There  were  eagles,  typifying  Bryan's  Americanism.  Four  live 
ones  had  been  presented  to  him ;  one  stuffed  one.  More  than  a  score 
of  canes.    All  manner  of  curios,  mementoes  and  other  gifts. 

And  the  returns  came  in. 

On  the  popular  vote,  McKinley  received  7,107,822  votes  as 
against  Bryan's  6,511,073  votes.  The  balloting  of  the  electoral  col- 
lege gave  McKinley  271  votes,  over  against  Bryan's  176. 

William  Jennings  Bryan  was  beaten.    He  was  not  defeated. 

As  soon  as  the  results  of  the  election  were  definitely  known 
Bryan  issued  a  statement  to  the  bimetalists  of  the  United  States. 
It  concludes  this  chapter: 

"Conscious  that  millions  of  loyal  hearts  are  saddened  by  tem- 
porary defeat,  I  beg  to  offer  a  word  of  hope  and  encouragement. 
No  cause  ever  had  supporters  more  brave,  earnest  and  devoted  than 
those  who  have  espoused  the  cause  of  bimetalism.  They  have 
fought  from  conviction,  and  have  fought  with  all  the  zeal  which 
conviction  inspires.  Events  will  prove  whether  they  are  right  or 
wrong.  Having  done  their  duty  as  they  saw  it,  they  have  nothing 
to  regret. 

"The  friends  of  bimetalism  have  not  been  vanquished ;  they  have 
simply  been  overcome.  They  believe  that  the  gold  standard  is  a 
conspiracy  of  the  money-changers  against  the  welfare  of  the  human 
race,  and  they  will  continue  the  warfare  against  it. 

"No  personal  or  political  friend  need  grieve  because  of  my  de- 
feat. My  ambition  has  been  to  secure  remedial  legislation,  rather 
than  enjoy  the  honors  of  office ;  and  therefore  defeat  brings  to  me  no 
feeling  of  personal  loss.  Speaking  for  the  wife  who  has  shared 
my  labors,  as  well  as  for  myself,  I  desire  to  say  that  we  have  been 
amply  repaid  for  all  that  we  have  done.  In  the  love  of  millions  of 
our  fellow  citizens,  so  kindly  expressed;  in  knowledge  gained  by 
personal  contact  with  the  people  and  in  broadened  sympathies,  we 
find  full  compensation  for  whatever  efforts  we  have  put  forth.    Our 


THE  FIRST  CAMPAIGN  151 

hearts  have  been  touched  by  the  devotion  of  friends  and  our  lives 
shall  prove  our  appreciation  of  the  affection  of  the  plain  people — 
an  affection  which  we  prize  as  the  richest  reward  which  this  cam- 
paign has  brought." 


CHAPTER  XI 


Energy  and  Oratory 

No  Eight-Hour  Day — Answers  60,000  Letters — Typical  Campaign 
Day — Drinks  Water — Day's  Time-Table — Health — Care  of  Voice — 
Lost  Syllables — Gestures — Style  of  Oratory — Anecdote — "Twi- 
light Zone" — His  Lesson  to  Spell-Binders. 

There  was  never  any  eight  hour  day  for  William  Jennings  Bryan. 
Nor  ten,  nor  twelve.  Often  it  was  fourteen,  during  the  stress  of  a 
strenuous  campaign  it  went  up  to  sixteen,  and  more  than  once 
climaxed  itself  in  a  full  twenty-four  hour  schedule. 

For  the  "Silver  Tongued  Orator"  was  also  the  great  apostle  of 
energy. 

The  combination  of  the  talent  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  strength 
on  the  other,  proved  so  powerful  a  union  that  Bryan  set  up  all 
manner  of  records  on  his  stumping  trips.  He  wore  out  some  of 
the  fastest  shorthand  reporters  in  the  country  giving  them  dictation 
as  he  sat  on  the  edge  of  his  bed  in  his  Pullman  and  phrased  speeches 
and  letters  and  official  replies. 

His  campaign  tours  left  newspaper  correspondents  fatigued  al- 
most to  the  end  of  their  endurance  at  a  midnight  that  found  Bryan 
delivering  a  one  hour  speech  from  the  rear  of  the  train. 

As  a  casual  aftermath  of  the  stupendous  campaign  of  1896,  he 
sat  down  in  his  study  at  Lincoln  and,  with  the  aid  of  his  wife, 
answered  every  one  of  the  60,000  letters  which  had  accumulated 
during  his  absence.  It  took  them  a  year  and  a  half  to  sandwich 
the  work  in  between  a  multiplicity  of  other  duties;  but  Bryan  took 
the  job  as  a  matter  of  course  and  didn't  chafe  under  it. 

Another  time,  friends  came  upon  him  working  zealously  to  auto- 
graph several  hundred  photographs  before  he  rushed  off  to  a  meet- 

152 


ENERGY  AND  ORATORY  153 

ing.  At  an  adjacent  desk,  his  brother,  Charles  W.  Bryan,  sat 
toying  with  his  pen  and  making  a  signature  that  would  have  fooled 
even  a  handwriting  expert  into  believing  the  Commoner  had  made 
it  himself.  Friends  had  the  temerity  to  suggest  that  Charles  Bryan 
sign  the  name  William  J.  Bryan  to  some  of  the  photographs.  Mr. 
Bryan  rebuked  them  for  the  suggestion,  and  continued  his  laborious 
task. 

Strangely  enough,  this  energy  which  projected  him  into  the 
whirlwind  campaign  of  1896  did  not  taper  off  in  the  next,  nor  the 
next.  In  fact  it  gathered  momentum.  Of  course,  in  point  of 
statistics,  he  never  quite  equalled  those  records  rolled  up  in  the 
1896  tour.  But  for  individual  days  of  amazing  activity,  his  second 
trip  beat  the  first,  and  the  third  beat  the  second. 

First  he  set  a  record  by  making  nineteen  speeches  in  one  day; 
then  he  increased  that  to  twenty-one;  and  later  capped  the  whole 
performance  by  delivering  thirty-six  speeches  in  twenty-four  hours. 

The  significant  thing  about  it  all  was  that  this  ceaseless  talking, 
this  consistent  alertness,  did  not  mean  that  he  had  "set"  speeches. 
Phrases,  similes,  quotations,  pen  pictures — the  same  ones  occur  again 
and  again  in  his  speeches.  But  those  who  campaigned  with  him, 
maintain  that  William  Jennings  Bryan  never  gave  the  same  speech 
twice. 

Here  is  a  typical  day,  some  five  weeks  before  a  presidential  elec- 
tion, as  described  by  a  journalist  who  made  the  trip  with  him. 

It  is  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  Bryan's  special  is  hurrying 
along  through  New  York  state.  It  was  past  midnight  when  Bryan 
got  on  the  train  the  night  before  but  he  is  having  breakfast  by  six, 
He  doesn't  look  fatigued  as  he  comes  to  the  table,  and  he  doesn't 
act  fatigued. 

For  his  first  words  are  ones  of  inquiry  as  to  how  the  others 
have  slept;  Governor  Jennings  of  Florida,  Robert  Rose,  his  secre- 
tary, and  half  a  dozen  newspaper  men.     He  even  remembers  to  ask 


154  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

about  the  condition  of  one  of  the  reporter's  hands,  which  had  been 
slightly  injured  the  day  before. 

He  is  just  about  reaching  for  the  morning  papers,  with  his  break- 
fast but  half  eaten,  when  the  train  pulls  into  a  little  town.  Only 
a  hundred  or  so  people  at  the  station,  but  they  are  cheering. 
They  want  to  see  Bryan.  Napkin  in  hand,  he  goes  to  the  door. 
But  they  want  to  hear  Bryan.  So  Bryan  talks  to  them,  until  the 
train  wheels  begin  to  roll. 

The  correspondents  crowd  out  to  the  platform.  For  they  know 
that  the  two  hundred  or  five  hundred  words  which  the  candidate  will 
speak  to  that  tiny  crowd  may,  very  possibly,  contain  the  text  of  his 
address  for  the  day.  Some  identical  phrases  will  be  used  over  again 
and  again  during  the  day.  But  each  speech  will  have  a  keynote  of 
spontaneity.     Each  speech  will  be  different. 

The  orator  returns  to  his  breakfast.  The  coffee  is  cold,  but 
they  bring  him  some  fresh.  By  that  time  the  train  is  again  slowing 
down.  It's  a  bigger  town  this  time.  Out  on  the  platform  again. 
After  the  speech  the  men  and  women  crowd  up  on  the  step  to 
shake  hands  with  their  candidate. 

A  third  try  at  breakfast,  and  a  third  speech  at  a  crossroads. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning,  the  journalist  estimates,  Bryan 
makes  six  or  eight  short  speeches,  and  does  a  prodiguous  amount 
of  dictating.  At  noon  he  leaves  the  train,  which  has  pulled  in  to 
a  goodly  sized  town.  A  delegation  of  citizens  escort  him  to  the 
town  square.  For  one  hour  he  talks.  Folks  all  about  him  jockey 
for  position  to  see  him,  to  be  the  first  to  get  to  him  and  shake  his 
hand  as  he  leaves  the  flag-draped  platform. 

Everywhere,  small  village,  or  lobby  of  a  fashionable  hotel,  it 
is  the  same,  they  are  tugging  at  his  elbow,  introducing  themselves, 
their  wives  and  all  their  friends,  to  him. 

The  noon  meeting  over,  he  talks  to  the  farmer,  to  the  business 


ENERGY  AND  ORATORY  155 

man,  the  president  of  the  mother's  club,  the  youngsters  who  have 
been  dismissed  from  school  in  order  to  attend  the  meeting. 

Then  an  afternoon  that  is  much  like  the  forenoon.  And  a  series 
of  long  speeches  that  night.  Bryan's  doctor  had  ordered  but  one 
long  speech  a  day.  But  it  was  more  like  one  "longer"  speech,  with 
several  long  ones,  and  a  host  of  small  ones.  His  secretary,  Mr. 
Rose,  estimated  that  he  spoke,  on  the  average,  between  60,000  and 
100,000  words  a  day. 

His  voice,  a  powerful,  wonderful  thing,  often  got  husky  by 
night,  but  was  ready  for  battle  early  the  next  morning.  He  was 
said  to  drink  a  glass  of  water  every  twenty-five  minutes  when  speak- 
ing. He  usually  contrived  to  get  the  crowd  laughing  just  before 
he  paused  to  drink  the  water,  and  by  the  time  their  attention  was 
again  focused  on  him,  he  was  beginning  to  talk. 

For  instance,  in  the  campaign  of  1908,  he  would  say,  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  "When  I  first  began  running  for  President."  The 
crowd  would  laugh,  and  he  would  drink  his  glass  of  water. 

Here  is  yet  another  time  table  of  an  average  day  out  campaign- 
ing: 

7:30 — Gets  off  train,  after  300  mile  journey,  with  a  midnight 
"change  cars"  schedule. 

8:30 — Introductions  and  breakfast. 

8:50 — Stands  on  steps  of  fraternity  building  and  addresses 
crowd. 

9:30 — Conference  with  a  political  committee. 

10:15 — Talks  to  more  than  4,000  persons  who  have  packed 
themselves  into  an  auditorium  with  a  seating  capacity  of  3,000. 

12:15 — Concludes  talk  in  auditorium  and  goes  outside  to  deliver 
another  speech  to  the  overflow  meeting. 

1 :00 — Lunch  on  the  train.  This  train  makes  five  stops  in  the 
next  100  miles.     At  each  stop  he  makes  a  rear  platform  address. 


156  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

3 :45 — Talks  for  two  hours  from  an  open-air  stand,  with  a  high 
wind  trying  to  cut  capers  with  his  voice,  but  not  succeeding. 

5  :50 — On  board  train  for  50  mile  trip.     Dinner  en  route. 

7 :30 — Reception  and  20  minutes  of  dictation  to  reporter. 

8:15 — Addresses  4,000  persons  assembled  in  a  badly  lighted, 
poorly  ventilated  warehouse. 

Midnight — So  home  and  to  bed.  Only  "home"  is  a  Pullman, 
and  "to  bed"  is  a  none  too  lengthy  sleep,  for  he  must  be  up  early 
on  the  morrow  as  two  formal  addresses  are  scheduled;  and  there 
are  six  for  the  succeeding  day. 

A  correspondent  who  made  the  1908  tour  with  him  presents  the 
following  as  a  record  day. 

According  to  this  gentleman,  Bryan  made  his  first  speech  that 
day  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and 
kept  going  all  day  long.  By  midnight  the  reporters  were  desperately 
tired.  Only  a  few  of  them  were  up  when  he  made  his  last  speech, 
the  thirty-second  it  was.  Like  most  of  the  others,  it  was  made  in 
the  open  air.  It  was  late,  but  a  few  hundred  men  had  waited  for 
his  train  to  come  by  and  Bryan  did  not  want  to  disappoint  them. 

As  an  example  of  that  persistent  desire  never  to  disappoint  any 
assembly  that  expected  him,  there  is  the  story  of  the  October  day, 
in  1922,  when  he  was  scheduled  to  address  a  large  gathering  of 
people  at  Newton,  Kansas.  On  the  way  to  Newton  he  suffered  a 
painful  injury  to  one  of  his  feet.  But  he  appeared  on  the  program, 
and  made  his  speech  while  seated. 

To  maintain  a  pace  like  the  one  we  have  just  indicated,  Bryan 
had  to  be  careful  of  his  health  and  careful  of  his  voice. 

While  he  taxed  his  strength  to  its  utmost,  he  had  quick  re- 
cuperative powers  and  seemed  able  to  "come  back"  with  renewed 
force,  after  a  night's  rest.  Then,  too,  he  was  a  hearty  eater.  His 
eating,  indeed,  has  been  the  subject  of  jest.  Sweet  corn  was  one 
of  his  favorite  dishes,  and  he  is  said  to  have  eaten  it  even  for  break- 


ENERGY  AND  ORATORY  157 

fast.  He  was  regular  in  his  meals ;  he  ate  simply  but  heartily,  and 
he  masticated  his  food  well.  He  drank  much  milk.  He  never 
smoked.    He  often  drank  ginger  ale  at  night. 

Second  only  in  importance  to  the  care  of  his  health  came  the 
care  of  his  voice. 

Beginning  rather  instinctively,  Bryan,  later  in  his  career,  quite 
consciously  it  would  seem,  saved  his  voice,  even  as  he  was  using 
it,  apparently  to  its  fully  capacity.  While  enunciating  so  clearly 
that  the  listener  caught  every  syllable,  he  deliberately  neglected,  or 
as  some  analysts  have  said,  "threw  away"  at  least  one-third  of  his 
syllables.  That  is,  his  stress  and  strain  of  voice  technique  was  so 
worked  out  that  he  emphasized  just  the  syllables  that  needed  em- 
phasis and  conserved  his  energy  on  the  others,  almost  to  the  point 
of  tossing  them  aside. 

The  primary  result  may  have  been  voice-saving,  but  the  sec- 
ondary result  was  a  well  poised  voice  accent  that  won  new  laurels 
for  him  as  a  speaker. 

So  it  was  that  Bryan  never  strained  his  voice  though  he  often 
wore  it  out. 

In  addition  to  the  fundamental  requisite  of  a  powerful  voice  well 
trained,  the  "Silver  Tongued  Orator"  knew  how  to  handle  himself 
on  the  platform.  He  did  not  gyrate  about  like  a  whirligig.  Often 
he  stood,  straight,  quiet,  with  his  ringers  at  his  sides  or  touching 
the  edge  of  the  table.  He  didn't  throw  away  useless  gestures.  Some 
of  his  favorite  ones  were  the  right  hand  beating  down  on  the  left 
palm;  both  hands  outstretched  to  the  side;  both  hands  upward 
obliquely;  and  the  upraised  right  hand. 

So  much  for  the  way  he  said  things.  An  analysis  of  what  he 
said,  the  recurrent  oratorical  characteristics,  the  use  of  Scripture, 
of  the  informal  story,  and  of  the  simile,  is  best  made  in  a  laboratory 
method,  with  some  of  his  speeches,  or  excerpts  from  them,  before 


158  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

you.  Such  a  laboratory,  in  a  tabloid  form,  will  be  available  in  the 
next  chapter. 

Stylistically,  his  speeches  have  been  criticised  for  their  florid 
imagery.  And  many  of  the  passages  are  a  bit  roccocco.  There  are 
even  rhetorical  inserts  of  "ginger-bread."  But,  in  fairness  to  him, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  in  nearly  every  case,  Bryan's  words 
were  meant  to  be  spoken,  rather  than  read.  And  the  vigor  of  his 
voice,  the  personality  of  himself,  the  drama  of  the  occasion,  formed 
kindly  yardsticks  by  which  to  judge  anything  that  might  have  been 
too  abundantly  elaborate. 

In  speaking  of  the  function  of  humor  in  a  political  speech,  Bryan 
once  said: 

"I  suppose  I  tell  more  stories  in  my  speeches  than  any  other 
public  speaker.  But  as  a  rule  I  try  to  tell  stories  that  will  illustrate 
a  serious  point  and  people  forget  the  funny  part  in  remembering 
the  point." 

Just  as  Bryan  employed  anecdote  in  his  speeches,  so  his  speeches 
furnished  anecdotes  for  him  to  tell  about  in  other  speeches. 

For  instance,  there  is  that  one  about  Governor  Thayer  of 
Nebraska,  a  political  enemy  of  Bryan's.  The  governor  was  presid- 
ing at  a  non-partisan  meeting,  and  when  Bryan,  one  of  the  speakers, 
came  up  to  the  platform  and  sat  down,  Thayer,  pretending  not  to 
recognize  him,  asked  him  his  name. 

"William  Jennings  Bryan.  Oh !  I  see,"  the  governor  said.  "I  am 
glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Bryan.    Do  you  speak  or  sing?" 

Years  earlier,  when  an  aspiring  young  orator  back  in  Jackson- 
ville, Bryan  attended  a  meeting,  as  a  listener,  where  the  speakers 
were  slow  in  arriving.  Presently  one  of  the  townsmen  tip-toed  to 
the  platform  and  whispered  to  the  chairman  that  there  was  a  "fine 
young  fellow  down  there,  quite  a  speaker,  too,"  and  suggested  that 
he  fill  in  the  gap  until  the  regular  speakers  came.  The  chairman 
agreed,  and  asked  how  to  introduce  the  impromptu  speaker. 


ENERGY  AND  ORATORY  159 

"Oh,  just  say,"  the  townsman  replied,  "that  we  will  now  hear 
from  William  J.  Bryan,  a  rising  attorney  of  this  city." 

The  chairman  motioned  for  silence.  Then  something  must  have 
flustered  him.    At  any  rate,  this  is  what  he  announced : 

"We  will  now  have  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  William  Rising 
Bryan,  a  jay  attorney  of  this  city." 

One  of  Bryan's  most  famous  phrases  passed  almost  into  a  proverb. 

The  incident  took  place  at  a  conference  of  governors  and  other 
officials  at  Washington  about  1908.  He  was  referring  to  the  adroit 
way  in  which  men  representing  what  is  called  predatory  wealth, 
escape  punishment  by  going  from  the  federal  to  the  state  courts,  or 
from  the  state  to  the  federal  courts. 

Bryan  said : 

'There  is  no  twilight  zone  between  the  nation  and  the  state  in 
which  exploiting  interests  can  take  refuge  from  both,  and  my  obser- 
vation is  that  most — not  all,  but  most — of  the  contentions  over  the 
line  between  nation  and  state  are  traceable  to  predatory  corpora- 
tions which  are  trying  to  shield  themselves  from  deserved  punish- 
ment, or  endeavoring  to  prevent  needed  restraining  legislation." 

Within  twenty-four  hours  the  President  had  adopted  the  phrase 
"no  twilight  zone,"  and  it  passed  into  both  literature  and  politics. 

An  interesting  revelation  as  to  what  Bryan  considered  the  neces- 
sary attributes  of  a  spell-binder  was  made  by  the  orator  in  Chicago, 
March  1,  1918.  He  was  in  the  city  and  learned  that  the  Chicago 
Dry  federation  was  holding  a  meeting  at  the  Stevens'  restaurant. 
The  meeting  had  been  called  to  instruct  speakers  in  the  dry  cam- 
paign. Bryan  dropped  in  and  listened  to  the  advice  given  by  men 
sent  out  by  the  speakers'  bureau. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting  there  was  a  call  for  Bryan. 
He  protested  that  he  had  just  dropped  in  for  a  few  pointers,  but 
they  cheered  until  he  addressed  them.  Here's  his  speech  to  spell- 
binders : 


160  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"The  purpose  of  speaking  is  to  convince.  To  convince  you  must 
make  the  people  understand.  Not  only  is  certain  truth  self-evident, 
as  we  say  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  but  all  truth  is  self- 
evident  and  the  most  important  element  in  speaking  is  to  have  your- 
self understood. 

"A  certain  man  is  said  to  have  sawed  two  holes  in  a  door,  one 
for  the  big  cat.  and  one  for  the  kitten.  It  was  unnecessary,  for  the 
hole  big  enough  to  let  the  big  cat  in  would  let  in  the  kitten  also. 
It  is  the  same  in  speaking.  If  you  speak  in  simple  language  both 
the  learned  and  the  unlearned  will  understand ;  the  little  words,  like 
the  kitten,  can  get  through  either  the  big  or  the  little  hole. 

"I  was  glad  to  hear  these  'trial  sermons'  tonight.  It  takes  all 
kinds  of  speeches  to  reach  all  kinds  of  people.  Some  persons  criti- 
cize me  because,  they  say,  I  am  too  mild.  They  want  to  show  me 
how  to  make  my  language  stronger.  There's  Mr.  Sunday.  We  are 
after  the  same  thing,  but  we  approach  our  subject  from  different 
angles. 

"But  you  can't  carry  by  spellbinding  alone.  You  must  organize 
every  ward  and  precinct  and  get  out  the  last  voter.  Iowa  and  Ohio 
were  lost  by  over-confidence  on  the  part  of  the  drys.  I  know  towns 
which  were  carried  by  a  single  vote. 

"The  temperance  tide  is  rising  and  the  vote  in  favor  of  ratifica- 
tion of  the  national  amendment  exceeds  every  time  the  estimate. 

"The  woman's  vote  is  going  to  be  a  big  factor  in  determining 
the  vote  in  favor  of  the  dry  cause." 


A.    photo. 

With  the  President — Bryan  and  Wilson  in  attendance  at  a  state  dinner 
during  the  former's  term  as  Secretary  of  State. 


Underwood  &  Underwood  photo. 


At  Disarmament  Parley — A  center  of  interest  at  the  international  confer- 
ence in  Washington,  which  he  attended  as  press  correspondent. 


CHAPTER  XII 


Syllables  From  the  Silver  Tongue 

Estimate  of  Lincoln  as  Orator — Funeral  Oration — Bible  the  Only 
True  Guide — To  the  Flag — Mystery  of  the  Radish — Conversion — 
The  Dry  Triumvirate — Woman  Suffrage — Education — Money — 
Illustration  of  the  Hog — Democracy — Philosophy  of  Defeat. 

Before  going  on  to  a  consideration  of  some  of  the  best 
examples  of  Bryan's  oratory,  exclusive  of  the  speeches  or 
excerpts  from  them  which  are  printed  elsewhere  in  this  book,  it  is 
profitable,  as  forming  a  basis  for  comparison,  to  read  what 
Bryan,  the  orator,  thought  of  Lincoln,  the  orator. 

The  following  extract  from  a  speech  Byran  made  at  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  February  12,  1909,  tells  the  story : 

"In  analyzing  Lincoln's  characteristics  as  a  speaker,  one  is 
impressed  with  the  completeness  of  his  equipment.  He  pos- 
sessed the  two  things  that  are  absolutely  essential  to  effective 
speaking — namely,  information  and  earnestness.  If  one  can  be 
called  eloquent  who  knows  what  he  is  talking  about  and  means 
what  he  says — and  I  know  of  no  better  definition — Lincoln's 
speeches,  were  eloquent.  He  was  thoroughly  informed  upon 
the  subject;  he  was  prepared  to  meet  his  opponent  upon  the 
general  proposition  discussed,  and  upon  any  deductions  which  could 
be  drawn  from  it.  There  was  no  unexplored  field  into  which  his 
adversary  could  lead  him ;  he  had  carefully  examined  every  foot 
of  the  ground,  and  was  not  afraid  of  pitfall  or  ambush;  and, 
what  was  equally  important,  he  spoke  from  his  own  heart  to 
the  hearts  of  those  who  listened.  While  the  printed  page  can 
not  fully  reproduce  the  impressions  made  by  a  voice  trembling 
with  emotion  or  tender  with  pathos,  one  can  not  read  the  re- 

163 


164  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

ports  of  the  debates  without  feeling  that  Lincoln,  regarded  the 
subject  as  far  transcending  the  ambitions  or  the  personal  in- 
terests of  the  debaters.  It  was  of  little  moment,  he  said, 
whether  they  voted  him  or  Judge  Douglas  up  or  down,  but  it 
was  tremendously  important  that  the  question  should  be  decided 
rightly. 

"His  reputation  may  have  suffered,  in  the  opinion  of  some, 
because  he  made  them  think  so  deeply  upon  what  he  said  that 
they,  for  the  moment,  forgot  him  altogether,  and  yet,  is  this  not 
the  very  perfection  of  speech?  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  orator 
to  persuade,  and  to  do  this  he  presents,  not  himself,  but  his 
subjects.  Someone,  in  describing  the  difference  between  Demos- 
thenes and  Cicero,  said  that  when  Cicero  spoke,  people  said, 
'How  well  Cicero  speaks';  but  that  when  Demosthenes  spoke, 
they  said,  'Let  us  go  against  Philip.'  In  proportion  as  one 
can  forget  himself  and  become  wholly  absorbed  in  the  cause 
which  he  is  presenting  does  he  measure  up  to  the  requirements 
of  oratory. 

"In  addition  to  the  two  essentials,  Lincoln  possessed  what 
may  be  called  the  secondary  aids  to  oratory.  He  was  a  master  of 
statement.  Few  have  equalled  him  in  the  ability  to  strip  a 
truth  of  surplus  verbiage  and  present  it  in  its  naked  strength. 
In  the  Declaration  of  Independence  we  read  that  there  are 
certain  self-evident  truths,  which  are  therein  enumerated.  If  I 
were  amending  the  proposition,  I  would  say  that  all  truth  is 
self-evident.  Not  that  any  truth  will  be  universally  accepted, 
for  not  all  are  in  a  position  or  in  an  attitude  to  accept  any  given 
truth.  In  the  interpretation  of  the  parable  of  the  sower  we  are 
told  that  'the  cares  of  this  world  and  the  deceitfulness  of  riches 
choke  the  truth/  and  it  must  be  acknov/ledged  that  every  truth 
has  these   or  other   difficulties  to  contend  with.     But  a  truth 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE         165 

may  be  so  clearly  stated  that  it  will  commend  itself  to  anyone 
who  has  not  some  special  reason  for  rejecting  it. 

"  'Brevity  is  the  soul  of  wit/  and  a  part  of  Lincoln's  reputation 
for  wit  lies  in  his  ability  to  condense  a  great  deal  into  a  few 
words.  He  was  epigrammatic.  A  molder  of  thought  is  not 
necessarily  an  originator  of  the  thought  molded.  Just  as  lead 
molded  in  the  form  of  bullets  has  its  effectiveness  increased,  so 
thought  may  have  its  propagating  power  enormously  enlarged 
by  being  molded  into  a  form  that  the  eye  catches  and  the 
memory  holds.  Lincoln  was  the  spokesman  of  his  party — he 
gave  felicitous  expression  to  the  thoughts  of  his  followers. 

"His  Gettysburg  speech  is  not  surpassed,  if  equalled,  in 
beauty,  simplicity,  force  and  appropriateness  by  any  speech  of 
the  same  length  of  any  language.  It  is  the  world's  model  in 
eloquence,  elegance,  and  condensation.  He  might  safely  rest  his 
reputation  as  an  orator  on  that  speech  alone. 

"He  was  apt  in  illustration — no  one  more  so.  A  simple  story 
or  simile  drawn  from  every-day  life  flashed  before  his  hearer  the 
argument  that  he  desired  to  present.  He  did  not  speak  over 
the  heads  of  his  hearers,  and  yet  his  language  was  never  com- 
monplace. There  is  strength  in  simplicity,  and  Lincoln's  style 
was  simplicity  itself. 

"He  understood  the  power  of  the  interrogatory;  some  of  his 
most  powerful  arguments  were  condensed  into  questions.  No 
one  who  discussed  the  evils  of  separation  and  the  advantage  to 
be  derived  from  the  preservation  of  the  Union  ever  put  the 
matter  more  forcibly  than  Lincoln  did  when,  referring  to  the 
possibility  of  war  and  the  certainty  of  peace  some  time,  even 
if  the  Union  was  divided,  he  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  same  questions  would  have  to  be  dealt  with,  and  then  asked : 
'Can  enemies  make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can  make  laws?' 

"He  made  frequent  use  of  Bible  language  and  of  illustrations 


166  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

drawn  from  Holy  Writ.  It  is  said  that  when  he  was  preparing 
his  Springfield  speech  of  1858,  he  spent  hours  trying  to  find 
language  that  would  express  the  idea  that  dominated  his  public 
career — namely,  that  a  republic  could  not  permanently  endure 
half  free  and  half  slave,  and  that  finally  a  Bible  passage  flashed 
through  his  mind,  and  he  exclaimed:  'I  have  found  it!  "A 
house  divided  against  itself  can  not  stand."  '  And  probably  no 
other  Bible  passage  ever  exerted  as  much  influence  as  this  one 
in  the  settlement  of  a  great  controversy. 

"I  have  enumerated  some,  not  all — but  the  more  important — 
of  his  characteristics  as  an  orator,  and  on  this  day  I  venture 
for  the  moment  to  turn  the  thoughts  of  this  audience  away 
from  the  great  work  that  he  accomplished  as  a  patriot,  away 
from  his  achievements  in  the  line  of  statecraft,  to  the  means 
employed  by  him  to  bring  before  the  public  the  ideas  which 
attracted  attention  to  him.  His  power  as  a  public  speaker  was 
the  foundation  of  his  success,  and  while  it  is  obscured  by  the 
superstructure  that  was  reared  upon  it,  it  can  not  be  entirely 
overlooked  as  the  returning  anniversary  of  his  birth  calls  in- 
creasing attention  to  the  widening  influence  of  his  work.  With 
no  military  career  to  dazzle  the  eye  or  excite  the  imagination; 
with  no  public  service  to  make  his  name  familiar  to  the  reading 
public,  his  elevation  to  the  Presidency  would  have  been  im- 
possible without  his  oratory.  The  eloquence  of  Demosthenes 
and  Cicero  were  no  more  necessary  to  their  work  and  Lincoln 
deserves  to  have  his  name  written  on  the  scroll  with  theirs." 

That  is  what  Bryan  thought  of  Lincoln's  oratorical  qualities. 
Now,  let  us  consider  Bryan's  own  abilities  in  that  line,  as  evi- 
denced in  the  following  gems  from  his  most  famous  utterances: 

A  Child  of  Fortune 
I  have  been  a  child  of  fortune  from  my  birth.     God  gave  me 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE         167 

into  the  keeping  of  a  Christian  father  and  a  Christian  mother. 
They  implanted  in  my  heart  the  ideals  that  have  guided  my  life. 
When  I  was  in  law  school,  I  was  fortunate  enough,  as  I  was  in 
my  college  days,  to  fall  under  the  influence  of  men  of  ideals  who 
helped  to  shape  my  course;  and  when  but  a  young  man,  not  out 
of  college  yet,  I  was  guided  to  the  selection  of  one  who,  for 
twenty-four  years,  has  been  my  faithful  helpmate.  No  presidential 
victory  could  have  brought  her  to  me,  and  no  defeat  can  take  her 
from  me.  I  have  been  blessed  with  a  family.  Our  children  are 
with  us  to  make  glad  the  declining  years  of  their  mother  and 
myself.  When  you  first  knew  me,  they  called  me,  in  derision, 
"The  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte."  I  have  outlived  that  title,  and 
my  grandchildren  are  now  growing  up  about  me.  I  repeat,  that 
I  have  been  fortunate,  indeed.  I  have  been  abundantly  rewarded 
for  what  little  I  have  been  able  to  do,  and  my  ambition  is  not 
so  much  to  hold  any  office,  however  great,  as  it  is  to  know  my 
duty  and  to  do  it,  whether  in  public  life  or  as  a  private  citizen. 

From  concluding  speech,  campaign  of  1908. 

In  the  Minority 
One  can  afford  to  be  in  a  minority,  but  he  can  not  afford  to 
be  wrong;  if  he  is  in  a  minority  and  right,  he  will  some  day  be  in 
the  majority.     If  he  is  in  the  majority  and  wrong,  he  will  some 
day  be  in  the  minority. 

From  "The  Price  of  a  Soul." 

How  Much  Can  You  Earn? 
Not  only  do  I  believe  that  a  man  can  earn  five  hundred  millions, 
but  I  believe  that  men  have  earned  it.  I  believe  that  Thomas 
Jefferson  earned  more  than  five  hundred  millions.  The  service 
that  he  rendered  to  the  world  was  of  such  great  value  that  had  he 
collected  for  it  five  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  he  would  not  have 


168  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

been  overpaid.  I  believe  that  Abraham  Lincoln  earned  more  than 
five  hundred  millions,  and  I  could  go  back  through  history  and 
give  you  the  name  of  man  after  man  who  rendered  a  service  so 
large  as  to  entitle  him  to  collect  more  than  five  hundred  millions 
from  society — inventors,  discoverers,  and  those  who  have  launched 
great  economic,  educational  and  ethical  reforms.  But  if  I  pre- 
sented a  list  containing  the  name  of  every  man,  who,  since  time 
began,  earned  such  an  enormous  sum,  one  thing  would  be  true 
of  all  of  them,  namely:  That  in  not  a  single  case  did  the  man 
collect  the  full  amount.  The  men  who  have  earned  five  hundred 
million  dollars  have  been  so  busy  earning  it  that  they  have  not  had 
time  to  collect  it;  and  the  men  who  have  collected  five  hundred 
millions  have  been  so  busy  collecting  it  that  they  have  not  had  time 
to  earn  it. 

From  "The  Price  of  A  Soul" 

Funeral  Oration 

If  the  Father  deigns  to  touch  with  Divine  power  the  cold  and 
pulseless  heart  of  the  buried  acorn,  and  make  it  burst  forth  from 
its  prison  walls,  will  He  leave  neglected  the  soul  of  man,  who  is 
made  in  the  image  of  his  Creator? 

If  He  gives  to  the  rose  bush,  whose  withered  blossom  floats 
upon  the  breeze,  the  sweet  assurance  of  another  springtime,  will 
He  withhold  the  words  of  hope  from  the  sons  of  man,  when  the 
frosts  of  winter  come? 

If  matter,  mute  and  inanimate,  though  changed  by  the  force  of 
nature  into  a  multitude  of  forms,  can  never  die,  will  the  imperial 
spirit  of  man  suffer  annihilation  after  a  brief  sojourn,  like  a  royal 
guest,  in  this  tenement  of  clay? 

Rather,  let  us  believe  that  He,  who  in  His  apparent  prodigality, 
wastes  not  the  raindrop,  the  blade  of  grass  or  the  evening's  sighing 
zephyr,  but  makes  them  all  to  carry  out  His  eternal  plan,  has 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE         169 

given  immortality  to  the  mortal  and  gathered  to  Himself  the  gen- 
erous spirit  of  our  friend.     Then,  let  us  look  up  to  Him  and  say : 
"Thy  day  has  come,  not  gone ; 
Thy  sun  has  risen,  not  set; 
Thy  life  is  now  beyond  the  reach  of  change  or  death, 
Oh,  gentle  soul,  hail  and  farewell." 
Funeral  Oration  delivered  by  Bryan  over  the  body  of  a  friend. 

By  Faith 

Faith  is  the  spiritual  extension  of  the  vision;  it  is  the  moral 
sense  which  reaches  out  toward  the  throne  of  God  and  takes  hold 
upon  those  verities  which  the  mind  can  not  grasp. 

The  great  things  of  the  world  have  been  accomplished  by  men 
and  women  who  had  faith  enough  to  attempt  the  seemingly  impossi- 
ble and  to  trust  to  God  to  open  the  way. 

Faith  is  a  heart  virtue;  doubts  of  the  mind  will  not  disturb  us  if 
there  is  faith  in  the  heart. 

Faith  in  the  triumph  of  truth,  because  it  is  truth,  has  ever  been 
an  unfailing  source  of  courage  and  power.  Faith  leads  us  to  trust 
the  omnipotence  of  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  and  to  put  God's 
promises  to  the  test. 

Faith  is  as  necessary  to  the  heart  of  the  individual  as  it  is 
necessary  to  world-wide  peace.  What  can  equal  the  consolation 
that  comes  from  reliance  upon  the  care  of  Him  who  gives  beauty 
to  the  lily,  food  to  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  direction  to  all? 

From  "The  Fruits  of  the  Tree." 

Bible  the  Only  True  Guide 

Next  to  the  belief  in  God  I  would  place  the  acceptance  of  the 

Bible  as  the  word  of  God.     I  need  not  present  arguments  in  its 

support:  its  claims  have  been  established — the    burden    of    proof 

is  upon  those  who  reject  it.    Those  who  regard  it  as  a  man-made 


170  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

book  should  be  challenged  to  put  their  theory  to  the  test.  If  man 
made  the  Bible,  he  is,  unless  he  has  degenerated,  able  to  make  as 
good  a  book  today. 

Judged  by  human  standards,  man  is  far  better  prepared  to  write 
a  Bible  now  than  he  was  when  our  Bible  was  written.  The  char- 
acters whose  words  and  deeds  are  recorded  in  the  Bible,  were 
members  of  a  single  race;  they  lived  among  the  hills  of  Palestine 
in  a  territory  scarcely  larger  than  one  of  our  counties.  They  did 
not  have  printing  presses  and  they  lacked  the  learning  of  the 
schools;  they  had  no  great  libraries  to  consult,  no  steamboats  to 
carry  them  around  the  world  and  make  them  acquainted  with  the 
various  centers  of  ancient  civilization;  they  had  no  telegraph  wires 
to  bring  them  the  news  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  and  no  news- 
papers to  spread  before  them  each  morning  the  doings  of  the  day 
before.  Science  had  not  unlocked  Nature's  door  and  revealed  the 
secrets  of  rocks  below  and  stars  above.  From  what  a  scantily  sup- 
plied storehouse  of  knowledge  they  had  to  draw,  compared  with 
the  unlimited  wealth  of  information  at  man's  command  today!  And 
yet  these  Bible  characters  grappled  with  every  problem  that  con- 
fronts mankind,  from  the  creation  of  the  world  to  eternal  life  beyond 
the  tomb.  They  have  given  us  a  diagram  of  man's  existence  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave  and  they  have  set  up  warnings  at  every 
dangerous  point  along  the  path. 

Let  the  athiests  and  the  materialists  produce  a  better  Bible  than 
ours,  if  they  can.  Let  them  collect  the  best  of  their  school  to  be 
found  among  the  graduates  of  universities — as  many  as  they  please 
and  from  every  land.  Let  the  members  of  this  selected  group  travel 
where  they  will,  consult  such  libraries  as  they  please,  and  employ 
every  modern  means  of  swift  communication.  Let  them  glean  in 
the  fields  of  geology,  botany,  astronomy,  biology  and  zoology,  and 
then  roam  at  will  wherever  science  has  opened  the  way;  let  them 
take  advantage  of  all  the  progress  in  art  and  in  literature,  in  oratory 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE        171 

and  in  history — let  them  use  to  the  full  every  instrumentality  that 
is  employed  in  modern  civilization.  And  when  they  have  exhausted 
every  source,  let  them  embody  the  results  of  their  best  intelligence  in 
a  book  and  offer  it  to  the  world  as  a  substitute  for  this  Bible  of  ours. 
Have  they  the  confidence  that  the  Prophets  of  Baal  had  in  their 
God?  Will  they  try?  If  not,  what  excuse  will  they  give?  Has 
man  fallen  from  his  high  estate,  so  that  we  can  not  rightfully  ex- 
pect as  much  of  him  now  as  nineteen  centuries  ago?  Or  does  the 
Bible  come  to  us  from  a  source  that  is  higher  than  man — which? 

But  our  case  is  even  stronger.  The  opponents  of  the  Bible  can 
not  take  refuge  in  the  plea  that  man  is  retrograding.  They  loudly 
proclaim  that  man  has  grown  and  that  he  is  growing  still.  They 
boast  of  a  world-wide  advance  and  their  claim  is  founded  upon  fact. 
In  all  matters,  except  in  the  science  of  life,  man  has  made  wonder- 
ful progress.  The  mastery  of  the  mind  over  the  forces  of  nature 
seems  almost  complete,  so  far  do  we  surpass  the  ancients  in  harness- 
ing the  water,  the  wind  and  the  lightning. 

For  ages,  the  rivers  plunged  down  the  mountain-sides  and  ex- 
hausted their  energies  without  any  appreciable  contribution  to  man's 
service;  now  they  are  estimated  as  so  many  units  of  horse-power 
and  we  find  that  their  fretting  and  foaming  was  merely  a  language 
which  they  employed  to  tell  us  of  their  strength  and  of  their  will- 
ingness to  work  for  us.  And,  while  falling  water  is  becoming  each 
day  a  larger  factor  in  burden  bearing,  water,  rising  in  the  form  of 
steam,  is  revolutionizing  the  transportation  methods  of  the  world. 

The  wind  that  first  whispered  its  secret  of  strength  to  the  flap- 
ping sail  is  now  turning  the  wheel  at  the  well. 

Lightning,  the  red  demon  that,  from  the  dawn  of  Creation,  has 
been  rushing  down  its  zigzag  path  through  the  clouds,  as  if 
intent  only  upon  spreading  death,  having  been  metamorphosed  into 
an  errand  boy,  brings  us  illumination  from  the  sun  and  carries  our 
messages  around  the  globe. 


172  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Inventive  genius  has  multiplied  the  power  of  the  human  arm 
and  supplied  the  masses  with  comforts  of  which  the  rich  did  not 
dare  to  dream  a  few  centuries  ago.  Science  is  ferreting  out  the 
hidden  causes  of  disease  and  teaching  us  how  to  prolong  life.  In 
every  line,  except  in  the  line  of  character-building,  the  world  seems 
to  have  been  made  over,  but  the  marvelous  changes  by  which  old 
things  have  become  new  only  emphasize  the  fact  that  man,  too, 
must  he  born  again,  while  they  show  how  impotent  are  material 
things  to  touch  the  soul  of  man  and  transform  him  into  a  spiritual 
being.  Wherever  the  moral  standard  is  being  lifted  up — wherever 
life  is  becoming  larger  in  the  vision  that  directs  it  and  richer  in  its 
fruitage,  the  improvement  is  traceable  to  the  Bible  and  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  God  and  Christ  of  whom  the  Bible  tells. 

The  atheist  and  the  materialist  must  confess  that  man  ought 
to  be  able  to  produce  a  better  book  today  than  man,  unaided,  could 
have  produced  in  any  previous  age.  The  fact  that  they  have  tried, 
time  and  time  again,  only  to  fail  each  time  more  hopelessly,  explains 
why  they  will  not— why  they  can  not — accept  the  challenge  thrown 
down  by  the  Christian  world  to  produce  a  book  worthy  to  take  the 
Bible's  place. 

They  have  prayed  to  their  God  to  answer  with  fire — prayed  to 
inanimate  matter  with  an  earnestness  that  is  pathetic — and  they 
have  employed  in  the  worship  of  blind  force  a  faith  greater  than 
religion  requires,  but  their  almighty  is  asleep.  How  long  will  they 
allow  the  search  for  the  strata  of  stone  and  fragments  of  fossil 
and  decaying  skeletons  that  are  strewn  around  the  house  to  absorb 
their  thoughts  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Architect  who  planned  it  all? 
How  long  will  the  agnostic,  closing  his  eyes  to  the  plainest  truths, 
cry  "night,  night,"  when  the  sun  in  his  meridian's  splendor  an- 
nounces that  the  noon  is  here? 

To  the  young  man  who  is  building  character  I  present  the 
Bible  as  a  book  that  is  useful  always  and  everywhere.    It  guides  the 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE        173 

footsteps  of  the  young;  it  throws  a  light  upon  the  pathway  during 
the  mature  years,  and  it  is  the  only  book  that  one  cares  to  have 
beside  him  when  the  darkness  gathers  and  he  knows  that  the  end 
is  near.  Then  he  finds  consolation  in  the  promises  of  the  Book 
of  Books  and  his  lips  repeat,  even  when  his  words  are  inaudible, 
"Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
I  shall  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me,  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff, 
they  comfort  me,"  or  "I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,"  that  "where 
I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also." 

From  "The  Making  of  a  Man/' 

They  Make  It  Hard  For  Others 
The  immoral  church  member  who  borrows  his  habits  from  the 
outside  world,  and  the  moral  man  outside  the  church  who  borrows 
his  virtues  from  the  church,  are  stumbling  blocks  only  because  their 
inconsistencies  are  not  clearly  understood  by  the  unconverted. 

From  "The  Fruits  of  the  Tree." 

To  the  Flag 
That  is  the  most  beautiful  flag  that  kisses  the  breezes  today.  If 
you  have  ever  had  a  chance  to  compare  that  flag  with  other  flags, 
you  will  agree  with  me  that  no  flag  that  floats  is  so  pleasing  to  the 
eye.  Not  only  does  it  gratify  the  artistic  sense,  not  only  is  it 
beautiful  in  its  combinations  and  arrangements  of  colors,  but  it 
possesses  a  significance  that  adds  to  its  charms. 

The  white  indicates  the  purity  of  the  nation's  purpose,  the  red 
the  blood  that  has  been  shed  in  the  nation's  defense,  and  that  will 
be  shed  if  the  principles  for  which  the  flag  stands  are  ever  assailed ; 
the  stars  represent  each  one  a  state,  and  the  last  Fourth  of  July 
an  additional  star  was  added  to  the  sky  of  blue — forty-six  now.  It 
represents  an  indissoluble  union  of  indestructible  states,  and  in  that 
flag  there  is  presented  that  idea  of  government  which  combines  na- 


174  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

tional  sovereignty  with  the  preservation  of  local  self-government, 
the  greatest  idea  of  government  that  has  been  presented  since  the 
original  idea  of  self-government  was  enunciated;  that  idea  of  sep- 
arate communities,  independent  in  their  local  affairs  and  yet  united 
in  matters  of  national  importance,  that  idea  is  the  safety  of  our 
republic. 

There  is  no  area  of  territory  too  large  for  a  republic  like  that. 
Preserve  the  idea  of  the  state  taking  care  of  its  domestic  affairs, 
and  the  united  representation  of  the  states  acting  together,  and  you 
can  spread  the  idea  indefinitely;  but  without  these  two  ideas  both 
preserved,  a  great  republic  is  impossible.  Our  flag,  therefore,  is  not 
only  beautiful,  but  it  contains  a  thought  that  will  never  die. 

Flag-raising  at  Omaha,  July  26,  1908. 

Beware  Imperialism 
The  fruits  of  imperialism,  be  they  bitter  or  sweet,  must  be  left 
to  the  subjects  of  monarchy.    This  is  the  one  tree  of  which  citizens 
of  a  republic  may  not  partake.     It  is  the  voice  of  the  serpent,  not 
the  voice  of  God,  that  bids  us  eat. 

From  "Naboth's  Vineyard." 

We  Need  Moses 

Shame  upon  a  logic  which  locks  up  the  petty  offender  and  en- 
thrones grand  larceny.  Have  the  people  returned  to  the  worship 
of  the  Golden  Calf?  Have  they  made  unto  themselves  a  new 
commandment  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  conquest  and  lust  for 
empire?  Is  "thou  shalt  not  steal  upon  a  small  scale"  to  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  law  of  Moses? 

Awake,  O  ancient  law-giver,  awake!  Break  forth  from  thine 
unmarked  sepulchre  and  speed  thee  back  to  cloud-crowned  Sinai; 
commune  once  more  with  the  God  of  our  fathers  and  proclaim 
again  the  words  engraven  upon  the  tables  of  stone — the  law  that 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE        175 

was,  the  law  that  is  today— the  law  that  neither  individual  nor  na- 
tion can  violate  with  impunity! 

From  Speech  on  Imperialism. 

Down  With  Plutocracy 
Plutocracy  is  abhorrent  to  a  republic;  it  is  more  despotic  than 
monarchy,  more  heartless  than  aristocracy,  more  selfish  than  bu- 
reaucracy. It  preys  upon  the  nation  in  time  of  peace  and  conspires 
against  it  in  the  hour  of  its  calamity.  Conscienceless,  compassion- 
less  and  devoid  of  wisdom,  it  enervates  its  votaries  while  it  im- 
poverishes its  victims. 

From  Speech  on  Imperialism. 

The  Mystery  of  the  Radish 
Did  you  ever  raise  a  radish?  You  put  a  small  black  seed  into 
the  black  soil  and  in  a  little  while  you  return  to  the  garden  and 
find  the  full-grown  radish.  The  top  is  green,  the  body  white  and 
almost  transparent,  and  the  skin  a  delicate  red  or  pink.  What 
mysterious  power  reaches  out  and  gathers  from  the  ground  the 
particles  which  give  it  form  and  size  and  flavor?  Whose  is  the  in- 
visible brush  that  transfers  to  the  root,  growing  in  darkness,  the 
hues  of  the  summer  sunset?  If  we  were  to  refuse  to  eat  anything 
until  we  could  understand  the  mystery  of  its  creation  we  would  die 
of  starvation — but  mystery,  it  seems,  never  bothers  us  in  the  din- 
ing room ;  it  is  only  in  the  church  that  it  causes  us  to  hesitate. 

From  "The  Value  of  an  Ideal." 

Conversion  Doesn't  Take  Long 
Conversion,  as  I  understand  it,  is  surrender  of  one's  self  to 
God — obedience  to  the  first  .commandment.     It  is  putting  the  king- 
dom of  God  and  His  righteousness  first.     And  how  long  does  it 
take  to  be  converted?      Not  longer,   I  rejoice  to  believe,  than  it 


176  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

does  to  reject  God.  It  does  not  take  longer  to  be  converted  to  right- 
eousness than  to  be  converted  to  sin.  It  takes  but  an  instant  for 
an  honest  man  to  be  converted  into  a  thief — just  the  instant  in  which 
he  decides  to  steal.  It  takes  just  an  instant  for  a  law-abiding  man 
to  become  a  murderer.  And  so  it  takes  but  an  instant  for  the  heart 
to  surrender  itself  to  its  Maker  and  pledge  obedience  to  God.  A  man 
may  spend  weeks  weighing  the  question  before  deciding  to  steal,  but 
the  decision  to  steal  is  made  in  a  moment;  a  man  may  harbor  re- 
venge for  months  and  brood  over  a  real  or  imagined  wrong,  but 
the  decision  is  made  in  a  moment.  And  so  a  man  may  consider 
for  years  whether  he  will  change  his  course,  but  it  takes  but  a  mo- 
ment to  resolve  "I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  Father." 

From  "The  First  Commandment/' 

Individual  Is  Like  Japanese  Vase 
Of   all  the   artistic  work   done   in  Japan,   the   cloisonne  ware 
pleases  me  most — possibly  because  it   so  perfectly  illustrates  the 
process  of  development  through  which  we  all  pass. 

There  is  first  the  vase,  then  the  tracing  of  the  design  upon  it, 
then  the  filling  in  of  the  colors,  and,  finally,  the  polishing  that 
brings  out  the  beauty. 

And  so  with  the  individual.  There  is  first  the  basic  material 
of  body  and  mind,  then  comes  the  selection  of  the  ideals  that  con- 
trol the  life.  Then  follows  the  filling  in  of  the  moral  qualities  that 
give  tone  and  color,  and,  finally,  the  polish  that  comes  with  educa- 
tion and  experience.  All  these  are  necessary  to  the  finished  product. 
Speech  at  Keio  College,  Tokio,  in  1905. 

Friendly  Neighbors 
The  Lord  has  made  us  neighbors;  let  justice  make  us  friends. 
Motto  suggested  for  Pan-American   Union. 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE        177 

International  Banyan  Tree 
In  the  procession  which  escorted  President-elect  Palma  to  his 
home  when  he  returned  from  exile,  a  number  of  Cuban  ladies  repre- 
sented the  republics  of  the  western  hemisphere,  the  United  States 
being  the  eldest,  Cuba  the  youngest  of  the  group.  It  reminded  me 
of  the  great  banyan  tree  under  which  our  party  rested  for  a  mo- 
ment as  we  passed  through  Key  West;  for  are  not  these  republics 
much  like  the  banyan  tree?  Free  government  was  planted  upon 
American  soil  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago;  it  grew  and  sent  forth 
its  influence  like  branches  in  every  direction,  and  these  branches 
taking  root  now  support  the  parent  tree;  beneath  the  influence  of 
these  republics,  separate  in  their  government  and  yet  united  in  their 
aspirations,  an  ever-increasing  multitude  finds  shelter  and  protection. 
Long  live  the  international  banyan  tree — the  American  Republics! 

From  "Birth  of  the  Cuban  Republic" 

Dry  Triumvirate 

The  Christian  has  three  reasons  for  abstaining  from  the  use  of 
intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage,  and  the  reasons  ought  to  appeal 
to  those  outside  of  the  church. 

First:  Having  given  himself  in  service  to  his  Maker  and  his 
Saviour,  the  Christian  can  not  afford  to  impair  the  value  of  that 
service  by  the  use  of  alcohol.  Neither  can  be  afford  to  contract  a 
habit  which  may  in  his  case,  as  it  has  in  the  case  of  millions  of 
others,  destroy  both  the  capacity  and  the  disposition  to  serve. 

Second :  He  can  not  afford  to  spend  any  money  on  intoxicating 
liquor  when  there  are  so  many  worthy  causes  in  need  of  funds.  How 
can  a  Christian  pray  "Thy  will  be  done,"  and  rise  up  and  spend  on 
alcohol  money  that  might  then  be  used  to  advance  God's  kingdom 
on  earth? 

Third :  The  Christian  can  not  afford  to  put  his  example  on  the 
side  of  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor.     He  will  have  enough  to 


178  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

answer  for  before  the  judgment  day  without  having  a  soul,  ruined 
by  drink,  lay  the  blame  upon  his  example.  If  Paul  could  say,  "If 
eating  meat  maketh  my  brother  to  offend  I  shall  eat  no  meat,"  surely 
the  Christian  can  say :  "If  drinking  maketh  my  brother  to  offend,  I 
shall  not  drink.,, 

From  Total  Abstinence  Speech,  New  York,  1915. 

For  New  Year's  Eve 
Conscious  of  my  responsibility  to  God  for  every  thought  and 
word  and  deed,  and  in  duty  bound  to  render  to  my  fellowmen  the 
largest  possible  service  as  the  best  evidence  of  my  love  for  my 
Heavenly  Father,  I  resolve  to  strive  during  the  remainder  of  my  life 
to  increase  my  capacity  for  usefulness.  To  this  end  I  will  give  up 
any  practice  or  habit  that  tends  to  weaken  my  body,  impair  the 
strength  of  my  mind  or  lower  my  moral  purpose,  and  I  will  not  only 
endeavor  to  cultivate  habits  of  industry  in  both  body  and  mind  but 
will  seek  and  follow  worthy  ideals. 

From   Total  Abstinence  Speech,  New  York,  1915. 

On  Water,  In  Water 

At  the  Togo  reception  at  Tokio,  1905,  Mr.  Bryan  declined  an 
admiral's  suggestion  that  he  drink  champagne,  by  drinking  the  ad- 
miral's health  in  water  in  these  words: 

"You  won  your  victories  on  water  and  I  drink  to  your  health 
in  water;  whenever  you  win  any  victories  on  champagne  I  shall 
drink  to  your  health  in  champagne." 

To  Labor 
Can  the  rosebud,  blooming  in  beauty,  despise  the  roots  of  the 
bush  through  which  it  draws  its  lifeblood  from  the  soil?    As  little 
can  those  in  the  parlor  and  the  drawing-room  afford  to  forget  the 


©  Underwood  &   Underwood   photo. 


After  Resignation — Taken  following  disagreement  over  Lusitania  note 
which  caused  Bryan's  withdrawal  from  Wilson  cabinet. 


©  Clinedinst   and    P.    &   A.    Photos 

Dry  Leader — Bryan  holding  cup  presented  by  the  National  Dry  Federa- 
tion of  which  he  was  president  in  1919.  Insert — A  cartoon,  "A  moon 
of  oratorical  silver  over  a  dry,  dry  desert,"  by  the  Rev.  Branford  Clark, 

artist-evangelist. 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE        181 

men  and  women  who  toil  in  the  kitchen,  field  and  factory  that  the 
world  may  have  food  and  clothing. 

Said  in  New  York  in  late  'go's. 

War  on  Alcohol 
I  do  not  agree  with  those  who  fear  attack  from  abroad,  but  there 
is  one  kind  of  preparation  in  which  I  am  willing  to  join.  If  this 
nation  ever  goes  to  war,  its  supreme  need  will  be  men — men  whose 
brains  are  clear,  men  whose  nerves  are  steady,  men  who  have  no 
appetite  to  rob  them  of  their  love  of  country  in  their  nation's  crucial 
hour.  Let  us  unite  and  drive  alcohol  out  of  the  United  States; 
then,  if  war  comes,  every  American  can  render  the  maximum  of 
service  to  his  country.  And,  if  war  does  not  come,  this  kind  of 
preparation  can  be  used  in  the  arts  of  peace. 

From  igi6  Prohibition  Speech. 

Woman  Suffrage 

The  strongest  argument  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage  is  the 
mother  argument.  I  love  my  children — as  much,  I  think,  as  a  father 
can;  but  I  am  not  in  the  same  class  with  my  wife.  I  do  not  put 
any  father  in  the  same  class  with  the  mother  in  love  for  the  child. 
If  you  would  know  why  the  mother's  love  for  a  child  is  the  sweetest, 
tenderest,  most  lasting  thing  in  the  world,  you  will  find  the  explana- 
tion in  the  Bible :  "Where  your  treasures  are  there  will  your  heart 
be  also." 

The  child  is  the  treasure  of  the  mother;  she  invests  her  life  in 
her  child.  When  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi  was  asked :  "Where  are 
your  jewels?"  she  pointed  to  her  sons.  The  mother's  life  trembles 
in  the  balance  at  the  child's  birth,  and  for  years  it  is  the  object  of 
her  constant  care.  She  expends  upon  it  her  nervous  force  and 
energy ;  she  endows  it  with  the  wealth  of  her  love.  She  dreams  of 
what  it  is  to  do  and  be — and,  O,  if  a  mother's  dreams  only  came 


182  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

true,  what  a  different  world  this  world  would  be !  The  most  pathetic 
struggle  that  this  earth  knows  is  not  the  struggle  between  armed 
men  upon  the  battlefield;  it  is  the  struggle  of  a  mother  to  save  her 
child  when  wicked  men  set  traps  for  it  and  lay  snares  for  it. 
And  as  long  as  the  ballot  is  given  to  those  who  conspire  to  rob 
the  home  of  a  child  it  is  not  fair — no  one  can  believe  it  fair  to 
tie  a  mother's  hands  while  she  is  trying  to  protect  her  home  and 
save  her  child.  If  there  is  such  a  thing  as  justice,  surely  a  mother 
has  a  just  claim  to  a  voice  in  shaping  the  environment  that  may  de- 
termine whether  her  child  will  realize  her  hopes  or  bring  her  gray 
hairs  in  sorrow  to  the  grave. 

Because  God  has  planted  in  every  human  heart  a  sense  of  justice, 
and  because  the  mother  argument  makes  an  irresistible  appeal  to  this 
universal  sense,  it  will  finally  batter  down  all  opposition  and  open 
woman's  pathway  to  the  polls. 

From  Washington  Banquet  Speech,  1916. 

Wife  Should  Vote 

The  wife  is  the  husband's  partner  in  the  finances  of  the  family — 
she  helps  him  to  lay  away  money  for  a  rainy  day. 

The  wife  is  the  husband's  partner  in  the  raising  of  the  family — 
she  has  the  care  of  the  body,  the  mind  and  the  soul  of  the  child. 

The  wife  is  the  husband's  partner  in  all  his  plans  and  aspirations 
— no  one  so  loyal  and  faithful  as  she.  Why  should  she  not  be  his 
partner  at  the  polls? 

From  a  19 16  Campaign  Speech. 

Education 

In  this  day  of  increasing  education  the  father  who  denies  to  his 
son  the  advantages  of  the  schools,  and  sends  him  out  half  educated 
to  compete  with  the  boys  well  educated,  is  more  cruel  than  the 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE        183 

father  who  would  cut  off  a  son's  arm.    Loss  of  an  arm  is  not  nearly 
so  great  a  handicap  as  lack  of  education. 

From  Speech  on  "Education." 

Yes  and  No 

We  have  found  many  curious  things  in  this  country,  but  Mrs. 
Bryan  and  I  have  been  especially  interested  in  what  they  call  the 
"Korean  Lions."  I  do  not  know  whether  other  Americans  have  been 
impressed  by  these,  but  we  shall  take  two  Korean  lions  home  with 
us  (if  we  can  secure  a  pair)  and  put  them  as  a  guard  in  front  of  our 
house.  The  Korean  lions  are  interesting  for  several  reasons,  and 
one  of  the  most  important  is  that  they  represent  the  affirmative  and 
the  negative.  I  noticed  today  that  one  of  them  had  his  mouth  open 
as  though  he  were  saying  "yes,"  and  the  other  had  his  mouth  tight- 
ly closed  as  if  he  had  just  said  "no."  Both  the  affirmative  and  the 
negative  are  necessary.  You  find  everywhere  the  radical  and  the 
conservative.  Both  are  essential  in  a  progressive  state.  The  con- 
servative is  necessary  to  keep  the  radical  from  going  too  fast,  and 
the  radical  is  necessary  to  make  the  conservative  go  at  all.  One  is 
as  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  nation  as  the  other.  There  must 
be  a  party  in  power,  and  there  must  be  a  party  out  of  power,  al- 
though I  think  that,  for  convenience  sake,  they  ought  to  change 
places  occasionally.  When  a  party  goes  into  power  it  is  apt  to  be 
more  conservative  than  when  out  of  power,  and  when  a 
party  goes  out  of  power  it  is  likely  to  become  more  radical.  I  might 
give  a  number  of  reasons  for  it.  In  the  first  place,  responsibility 
tends  to  make  a  party  more  deliberate — it  sobers  it.  Then,  too,  a 
party  that  is  defeated  often  learns  from  the  victor  how  to  win,  and 
sometimes  the  successful  party  learns  from  the  defeated  one. 

From  speech  at  Ambassador's  dinner  in  Tokio. 


184  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Need  Elijah 
We  need  more  Elijahs  in  the  pulpit  today — more  men  who  will 
dare  to  upbraid  an  Ahab  and  defy  a  Jezebel.  It  is  possible,  aye, 
probable,  that  even  now,  as  of  old,  persecution  would  follow  such 
boldness  of  speech,  but  he  who  consecrates  himself  to  religion  must 
smite  evil  where  he  finds  it,  although  in  smiting  it  he  may  risk  his 
salary  and  his  social  position.  It  is  easy  enough  to  denounce  the 
petty  thief  and  the  back-alley  gambler ;  it  is  easy  enough  to  condemn 
the  friendless  rogue  and  the  penniless  wrong-doer,  but  what  about 
the  rich  tax-dodger,  the  big  law-breaker  and  the  corrupter  of  gov- 
ernment? The  soul  that  is  warmed  by  Divine  fire  will  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  less  than  the  complete  performance  of  duty;  it  must 
cry  aloud  and  spare  not,  to  the  end  that  the  creed  of  the  Christ  may 
be  exemplified  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 

From  "The  Price  of  a  Soul." 

How  Much? 

How  much  can  a  man  rightfully  collect  from  society? 

Not  more  than  he  honestly  earns.  If  he  collects  more  than  he 
earns  he  collects  what  some  one  else  has  earned — something  to 
which  he  is  not  entitled. 

And  how  much  can  a  man  honestly  earn?  Not  more  than  fairly 
measures  the  value  of  the  service  that  he  renders  to  society.  One 
cannot  earn  money  without  giving  an  equivalent  service  in  return. 
That  each  individual  member  of  society  is  entitled  to  draw  from  the 
common  store  in  proportion  as  he  contributes  to  the  common  wel- 
fare is  the  most  fundamental  of  economic  laws.  He  suffers  injus- 
tice if  he  is  denied  this ;  he  does  injustice  if  he  secures  more. 

From  "A  Conquering  Nation." 

Destiny 
Destiny  is  not  a  matter  of  chance ;  it  is  a  matter  of  choice.    It  is 
not  a  thing  to  be  waited  for,  it  is  a  thing  to  be  achieved. 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE        185 

Man's  opinion  of  what  is  to  be  is  half  wish  and  half  environment. 
Avarice  paints  destiny  with  a  dollar  mark  before  it;  militarism 
equips  it  with  a  sword. 

From  "America's  Mission." 

Rich  and  Dependent 
We  speak  of  people  being  independently  rich.  That  is  a  mis- 
take ;  they  are  dependently  rich.  The  richer  a  man  is  the  more  de- 
pendent he  is — the  more  people  he  depends  upon  to  help  him  collect 
his  income,  and  the  more  people  he  depends  upon  to  help  him  spend 
his  income. 

From  "The  Price  of  a  Soul." 

Consider  the  Hog 

I  am  indebted  to  some  hogs  for  one  illustration.  I  was  riding 
through  Iowa,  back  in  the  nineties,  and  saw  some  hogs  rooting  in  a 
meadow  near  the  railway  track.  The  first  thought  that  came  to  me 
was  that  the  hogs  were  doing  a  great  deal  of  damage  and  this  re- 
called our  practice,  when  I  lived  on  the  farm,  of  putting  a  ring  in 
the  hog's  nose.  The  purpose  was  not  to  keep  the  hog  from  getting 
fat;  we  were  more  interested  in  its  getting  fat  than  it  was.  The 
more  quickly  it  fattened,  the  sooner  it  died;  the  longer  it  was  get- 
ting fat,  the  longer  it  lived. 

Why  was  the  ring  put  in  the  hog's  nose?  For  the  simple  pur- 
pose of  keeping  it  from  destroying  more  than  it  was  worth,  while 
it  was  getting  fat.  This  practice  suggested  to  me  that  one  of  the 
purposes  of  government  is  to  put  a  ring  in  the  nose  of  the  human 
hog.  I  do  not  mean  to  use  the  language  in  an  offensive  sense,  but 
we  are  all  more  or  less  hoggish.  In  the  hours  of  temptation  we 
are  likely  to  trespass  on  the  rights  of  others.  Society  is  interested 
in  each  individual's  success,  but  a  man  must  not  be  allowed  to 
destroy  more  than  he  is  worth  while  he  is  getting  rich.     Civilization 


186  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

is  possible,  because  man,  in  his  sober  moments,  is  willing  to  put 
restraints  upon  all,  including  himself,  to  protect  society  from  human 
selfishness. 

Said  at  Anti-Trust  Conference  in  Chicago  in  1899. 

Bricks  and  Education 
A  single  brick  is  a  useless  thing,  but  many  bricks  joined  together 
by  mortar  make  a  wall,  and  a  wall  is  of  great  value.  So  one  lesson 
seems  of  little  importance,  but  many  lessons,  joined  together,  make 
an  education,  and  an  education  is  priceless.  And,  as  one  brick 
taken  out  of  a  wall  leaves  an  ugly  hole,  so  one  lesson  missed  mars 
the  beauty  and  strength  of  the  education. 

From  Speech  on  "Education." 

He  Kept  the  Faith 
Eight  years  ago  a  Democratic  national  convention  placed  in  my 
hand  the  standard  of  the  party  and  commissioned  me  as  its  candi- 
date. Four  years  later  that  commission  was  renewed.  I  come  to- 
night to  this  Democratic  national  convention  to  return  the  commis- 
sion. You  may  dispute  whether  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  you 
may  dispute  whether  I  have  finished  my  course,  but  you  can  not 
deny  that  I  have  kept  the  faith. 

From  St.  Louis  Convention  Speech,  1904. 

His  Appeal 
And  I  close  with  an  appeal  from  my  heart  to  the  hearts  of  those 
who  hear  me :    Give  us  a  pilot  who  will  guide  the  Democratic  ship 
away  from  the  Scylla  of  militarism  without  wrecking  her  upon  the 
Charybdis  of  commercialism. 

From  St.  Louis  Convention  Speech,  1904. 

Democracy 
The  Democratic  party  has  led  this  fight  until  it  has  stimulated 
a  host  of  Republicans  to  action.     I  will  not  say  they  have  acted  as 


SYLLABLES  FROM  THE  SILVER  TONGUE         187 

they  have  because  we  acted  first;  I  will  say  that  at  a  later  hour 
than  we,  they  caught  the  spirit  of  the  times  and  are  now  willing  to 
trust  the  people  with  the  control  of  their  own  government. 

We  have  been  traveling  in  the  wilderness;  we  now  come  in 
sight  of  the  promised  land.  During  all  the  weary  hours  of  dark- 
ness progressive  Democracy  has  been  the  people's  pillar  of  fire  by 
night;  I  pray  you,  delegates,  now  that  the  dawn  has  come,  do  not 
rob  it  of  its  well-earned  right  to  be  the  people's  pillar  of  cloud  by 
day. 

From  a  Speech  at  the  Baltimore  Convention,  1912. 

Sin  Blackmails  Silently 
Sin  is  a  silent  blackmailer;  it  hushes  the  lips  that  would  other- 
wise speak  out  against  wrongdoing.     Even  after  reformation  the 
fear  of  exposure  haunts  the  victim  and  often  paralyzes  his  useful- 
ness. 

From  a  Billy  Sunday  Meeting. 

Philosophy  of  Defeat 
If  we  can  fight  our  political  battles  upon  this  plane,  there  is  no 
humiliation  in  defeat.  I  have  passed  through  three  presidential 
campaigns,  and  many  have  rejoiced  over  my  defeats,  but  if  events 
prove  that  my  defeats  have  been  good  for  my  country,  I  shall  rejoice 
over  them  myself,  more  than  any  opponent  has  rejoiced.  And  when 
I  say  this  I  am  not  unselfish,  for  it  is  better  for  me  that  my  political 
opponents  should  bring  good  to  my  country  than  that  I  should,  by 
any  mistake  of  mine,  bring  evil. 

From  "The  Value  of  An  Ideal/' 


CHAPTER  XIII 


Anti-Imperialism 

Imperialism  the  Issue  of  1900 — War  with  Spain — Offers  Services 
to  McKinley — Colonel  of  3d  Nebraska  Volunteers — Resigns  Com- 
mission After  Five  Months  Service — Declares  Position  on  Im- 
perialism— Bryan  and  Stevenson  Nominated — Whirlwind  Cam- 
paign— Utterances  on  the  Paramount  Issue — Political  Defeat — 
"Imperialism  Like  Heart  Disease;  Tariff  Just  a  Stomach  Ache." 

In  the  career  of  William  Jennings  Bryan,  the  year  1900  and 
the  slogan  of  anti-imperialism  are  inseparably  joined  together.  On 
the  question  of  whether  the  United  States  should  or  should  not 
retain  the  dominion  of  the  Philippines,  which  she  had  won  in  the  war 
with  Spain,  turned  the  fortunes  of  the  next  presidential  campaign 
after  that  of  1896.  Bryan  declared  against  the  government  of 
foreign  colonies  by  the  United  States.  He  lost  on  this  issue  in 
1900 ;  but  again,  he  was  only  beaten,  not  defeated.  The  policy  that 
he  set  forth  even  before  the  Spanish-American  war  was  justified 
in  the  end  by  his  nation. 

Though  beaten  in  1896,  Bryan  determined  to  stay  in  politics. 
He  loved  the  game;  he  felt  that  he  must  continue  in  the  leadership 
which  his  party  had  bestowed  upon  him  and  which  it  now  looked 
to  him  to  carry  on.  So  instead  of  re-entering  law  practice  in  Lin- 
coln, he  turned  to  lecturing  and  writing  as  a  means  of  livelihood. 
This  kept  his  name  and  opinions  before  the  voters  but  he  could 
easily  turn  aside  when  the  demands  of  politics  required. 

On  the  'day  that  war  was  declared  against  Spain,  political  differ- 
ences were  set  aside  and  Bryan  sent  a  telegram  to  President  Mc- 
Kinley offering  his  services.     He  wired: 
"Hon.  William  McKinley,  President, 

"My  Dear  Sir:     I  hereby  place  my  services  at  your  command 

188 


ANTI-IMPERIALISM  189 

during  the  war  with  Spain  and  assure  you  of  my  willingness  to 
perform,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  any  duty  which  you,  as  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  army  and  navy,  may  see  fit  to  assign  me. 

"Respectfully  yours, 

"W.  J.  BRYAN." 

A  short  time  later  Governor  Holcomb  of  Nebraska  requested 
Bryan  to  raise  a  regiment;  Bryan  accepted,  and  became  colonel  of 
the  3d  Nebraska  volunteer  infantry.  Like  other  notable  men  with 
war- won  titles,  Bryan  retained  the  title  of  "Colonel"  throughout  his 
life.  It  was  his  service  in  the  war  with  Spain  which  gave  him  the 
right  on  his  death  to  be  buried  in  Arlington  National  cemetery.  The 
3d  Nebraska  under  Bryan  saw  no  active  fighting;  like  many  other 
regiments,  they  found  that  their  battle  was  one  against  disease  in  a 
Florida  training  camp.  They  were  encamped  at  Jacksonville,  Fla., 
at  Pablo  Beach,  Fla.,  and  at  Savannah,  Ga.  During  his  five  months 
of  military  life  Bryan  himself  suffered  from  malaria  and  passed 
safely  through  a  mild  attack  of  typhoid.  In  December,  after  the 
cessation  of  hostilities,  and  when  the  terms  of  the  treaty  had  been 
agreed  upon,  Bryan  forwarded  the  resignation  of  his  commission, 
declaring  that  he  believed  that  "under  present  conditions,  I  can  be 
more  useful  to  my  country  as  a  civilian  than  as  a  soldier."  With 
expressions  of  praise  and  regret  from  his  superior  officers,  Bryan 
was  allowed  to  leave  the  army. 

The  usefulness  to  his  country  to  which  Bryan  referred,  turned 
out  to  be  the  leadership  of  the  fight  against  imperialism.  It 
was  a  fight  against  the  national  spirit  of  conquest  and  subjugation 
stirred  up  by  the  war.  Bryan  was  the  first  great  political  leader 
to  take  a  definite  stand  against  this  war-born  tide. 

He  had  marked  out  his  position  definitely  from  the  very  first. 
Even  while  raising  his  regiment,  he  spoke  against  the  policy  of 
annexing  the  Philippines.  The  political  map  of  the  country  under- 
went some  changes  on  the  imperialism  issue.     In  the  east  Bryan 


190  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

made  gains,  for  many  of  the  political  leaders  who  were  against 
him  there  on  the  question  of  free  silver  now  found  themselves  beside 
him  on  anti-imperialism.  The  central  states  and  the  west,  the  west 
especially,  were  in  favor  of  annexation,  and  many  of  the  western 
states  returned  to  the  Republican  fold  which  they  had  left  through 
the  split  over  bimetalism.  His  own  party  was  hardly  with  Bryan 
on  the  question  of  imperialism.  Yet  with  characteristic  courage 
he  openly  stated  his  position,  refusing  to  trim  his  sails  to  the  popular 
post-war  sentiment.  How  well  he  succeeded  in  turning  the  Demo- 
cratic party  toward  his  way  of  thinking  may  be  shown  by  an  in- 
spection of  the  Democratic  platforms  of  1900,  1904,  1908  and  1912. 
Every  one  of  them  contains  an  anti-imperialism  plank  written  in 
through  Bryan's  influence.  How  well  he  prophesied  the  trend  of 
national  thought  was  proved  later  when  Congress  declared  the  right 
of  the  Philippines  to  self-government  and  eventual  independence. 

"Our  nation  is  in  greater  danger  now  than  is  Cuba,"  said  Bryan 
after  the  resignation  of  his  military  command.  "The  imperialistic 
idea  is  directly  antagonistic  to  the  ideas  and  ideals  which  have  been 
cherished  by  the  American  people  since  the  signing  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  A  nation  can  not  endure  half  republic  and 
half  colony.  It  would  be  easier  to  ratify  the  treaty  and  deal  with 
the  question  in  our  own  way.  The  issue  can  be  presented  directly 
by  a  resolution  of  Congress  declaring  the  policy  of  the  nation  upon 
this  subject.  Such  a  resolution  would  make  a  clear-cut  issue  be- 
tween the  doctrine  of  self-government  and  the  doctrine  of  im- 
perialism." 

With  the  paramount  issue  defined,  Bryan  was  nominated  unani- 
mously at  the  Kansas  City  convention.  His  running  mate  on  the 
ticket  was  Adlai  E.  Stevenson  of  Illinois,  Vice-President  during 
Cleveland's  second  administration.  Then  followed  another  whirl- 
wind speaking  trip  covering  the  country  from  one  end  to  the  other. 


ANTI-IMPERIALISM  191 

It  was  not  as  sensational  as  the  first  tour,  but  it  was  a  spectacular 
trip,  well  enough. 

With  McKinley  and  Roosevelt  the  Republican  candidates,  the 
Republican  party  was  almost  solidly  in  favor  of  keeping  the  Philip- 
pines. 

Bryan  declared:  "I  want  to  know  whether  the  mothers  of  this 
land  have  no  higher  ambition  for  their  sons  than  to  raise  them  up 
and  send  them  across  the  seas  to  fight  the  ideas  of  freedom  in  a 
foreign  land,  in  order  that  somebody  may  get  railroad  franchises?" 

There  was  much  criticism  directed  at  Bryan  for  the  seeming 
inconsistency  between  his  stand  against  imperialism  and  the  fact 
that  he  had  approved  ratification  of  the  treaty  with  Spain,  giving 
the  United  States  the  Philippines.  He  made  answer  to  these  attacks 
in  his  speech  accepting  the  1900  nomination: 

"In  view  of  the  criticism  which  my  action  aroused  in  some 
quarters,  I  take  this  occasion  to  re-state  the  reasons  given  at  that 
time.  I  thought  it  safer  to  trust  the  American  people  to  give  inde- 
pendence to  the  Filipinos  than  to  trust  the  accomplishment  of  that 
purpose  to  diplomacy  with  an  unfriendly  nation. 

"Lincoln  embodied  an  argument  in  the  question  when  he  asked, 
'Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can  make  laws?'  I 
believe  that  we  are  now  in  a  better  position  to  wage  a  successful 
contest  against  imperialism  than  we  would  have  been  had  the  treaty 
been  rejected.  With  the  treaty  ratified  a  clean-cut  issue  is  presented 
between  a  government  by  consent  and  a  government  by  force,  and 
imperialists  must  bear  the  responsibility  for  all  that  happens  until 
the  question  is  settled. 

"If  the  treaty  had  been  rejected  the  opponents  of  imperialism 
would  have  been  held  responsible  for  any  international  complica- 
tions which  might  have  arisen  before  the  ratification  of  another 
treaty.  But  whatever  difference  of  opinion  may  have  existed  as  to 
the  best  method  of  opposing  a  colonial  policy,  there  never  was  any 


192  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

difference  as  to  the  great  importance  of  the  question  and  there  is 
no  difference  now  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued. 

"The  title  of  Spain  being  extinguished,  we  were  at  liberty  to  deal 
with  the  Filipinos  according  to  American  principles.  The  Bacon 
resolution,  introduced  a  month  before  hostilities  broke  out  at  Manila, 
promised  independence  to  the  Filipinos  on  the  same  terms  that  it 
was  promised  to  the  Cubans.  I  supported  this  resolution  and  be- 
lieved that  its  adoption  prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  would 
have  prevented  bloodshed,  and  that  its  adoption  at  any  subsequent 
time  would  have  ended  hostilities. 

"If  the  treaty  had  been  rejected  considerable  time  would  have 
necessarily  elapsed  before  a  new  treaty  could  have  been  agreed 
upon  and  ratified,  and  during  that  time  the  question  would  have 
been  agitating  the  public  mind.  If  the  Bacon  resolution  had  been 
adopted  by  the  Senate  and  carried  out  by  the  President,  either 
at  the  time  of  ratification  of  the  treaty  or  at  any  time  afterwards, 
it  would  have  taken  the  question  of  imperialism  out  of  politics  and 
left  the  American  people  free  to  deal  with  their  domestic  problems. 
But  the  resolution  was  defeated  by  the  vote  of  the  Republican  Vice- 
President,  and  from  that  time  to  this  a  Republican  Congress  has 
refused  to  take  any  action  whatever  in  the  matter." 

In  other  utterances  he  repeated  his  axiom  that  no  nation  could 
exist,  part  republic  and  part  colonial  empire : 

"Behold  a  republic  in  which  civil  and  religious  liberty  stimulate 
all  to  earnest  endeavor,  and  in  which  the  law  restrains  every  hand 
uplifted  for  a  neighbor's  injury — a  republic  in  which  every  citizen 
is  sovereign,  but  in  which  no  one  cares  to  wear  a  crown. 

"Behold  a  republic  standing  erect,  while  empires  all  around  are 
bowed  beneath  the  weight  of  their  own  armaments — a  republic 
whose  flag  is  loved,  while  other  flags  are  only  feared. 

"Behold  a  republic  increasing  in  population,  in  wealth,  in  strength 
and  in  influence,  solving  the  problems  of  civilization  and  hastening 


ANTI-IMPERIALISM  193 

the  coming  of  a  universal  brotherhood — a  republic  which  shakes 
thrones  and  dissolves  aristocracies  by  its  silent  example,  and  gives 
light  and  inspiration  to  those  who  sit  in  darkness. 

"Behold  a  republic  gradually  but  surely  becoming  the  supreme 
moral  factor  in  the  world's  progress  and  the  accepted  arbiter  of 
the  world's  disputes — a  republic  whose  history,  like  the  path  of  the 
just,  'is  as  the  shining  light  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect  day.'  " 

And :  "History  is  replete  with  predictions  which  once  wore  the 
hue  of  destiny,  but  which  failed  of  fulfilment  because  those  who 
uttered  them  saw  too  small  an  arc  of  the  circle  of  events.  When 
Pharaoh  pursued  the  fleeing  Israelites  to  the  edge  of  the  Red  sea 
he  was  confident  that  their  bondage  would  be  renewed,  and  that 
they  would  again  make  bricks  without  straw,  but  destiny  was  not 
revealed  until  Moses  and  his  followers  reached  the  farther  shore 
dry  shod  and  the  waves  rolled  over  the  horses  and  chariots  of  the 
Egyptians.  When  Belshazzar,  on  the  last  night  of  his  reign,  led 
his  thousand  lords  into  the  Babylonian  banquet  hall  and  sat  down 
to  a  table  glittering  with  vessels  of  silver  and  gold,  he  felt  sure  of 
his  kingdom  for  many  years  to  come,  but  destiny  was  not  revealed 
until  the  hand  wrote  upon  the  wall  those  awe-inspiring  words,  'Mene 
Mene,  Tekel  Upharsin.'  When  Abderrahman  swept  northward  with 
his  conquering  hosts  his  imagination  saw  the  Crescent  triumphant 
throughout  the  world,  but  destiny  was  not  revealed  until  Charles 
Martel  raised  the  Cross  above  the  battlefield  of  Tours  and  saved 
Europe  from  the  sword  of  Mohammedanism.  When  Napoleon 
emerged  victorious  from  Marengo,  from  Ulm  and  from  Austerlitz, 
he  thought  himself  the  child  of  destiny,  but  destiny  was  not  revealed 
until  Blucher's  forces  joined  the  army  of  Wellington  and  the  van- 
quished Corsican  began  his  melancholy  march  toward  St.  Helena. 
When  the  red-coats  of  George  the  Third  routed  the  New  Englanders 
at  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill  there  arose  before  the  British  sov- 


194  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

ereign  visions  of  colonies  taxed  without  representation  and  drained 
of  their  wealth  by  foreign-made  laws,  but  destiny  was  not  revealed 
until  the  surrrender  of  Cornwallis  completed  the  work  begun  at 
Independence  Hall,  and  ushered  into  existence  a  government  deriv- 
ing its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 

He  told,  too,  how  Christianity  and  imperialism  conflicted  one 
with  the  other: 

"If  true  Christianity  consists  in  carrying  out  in  our  daily  lives 
the  teachings  of  Christ,  who  will  say  that  we  are  commanded  to 
civilize  with  dynamite  and  proselyte  with  the  sword?  He  who 
would  declare  the  Divine  will  must  prove  his  authority  either  by 
Holy  Writ  or  by  evidence  of  a  special  dispensation. 

"Imperialism  finds  no  warrant  in  the  Bible.  The  command,  'Go 
ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,'  has 
no  Gatling  gun  attachment.  When  Jesus  visited  a  village  of  Samaria 
and  the  people  refused  to  receive  him,  some  of  the  disciples  sug- 
gested that  fire  should  be  called  down  from  Heaven  to  avenge  the 
insult;  but  the  Master  rebuked  them  and  said:  'Ye  know  not  what 
manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of;  for  the  Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to 
destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them.'  Suppose  he  had  said:  'We 
will  thrash  them  until  they  understand  who  we  are,'  how  different 
would  have  been  the  history  of  Christianity !  Compare,  if  you  will, 
the  swaggering,  bullying,  brutal  doctrine  of  imperialism  with  the 
golden  rule  and  the  commandment,  'Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.' 

"Love,  not  force,  was  the  weapon  of  the  Nazarene ;  sacrifice  for 
others,  not  the  exploitation  of  them,  was  His  method  of  reaching 
the  human  heart.  A  missionary  recently  told  me  that  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  once  saved  his  life  because  his  assailant  recognized  our 
flag  as  a  flag  that  had  no  blood  upon  it. 

"Let  it  be  known  that  our  missionaries  are  seeking  souls  instead 
of  sovereignty;  let  it  be  known  that  instead  of  being  the  advance 


ANTI-IMPERIALISM  195 

guard  of  conquering  armies,  they  are  going  forth  to  help  and  uplift, 
having  their  loins  girt  about  with  truth  and  their  feet  shod  with 
the  preparation  of  the  gospel  peace,  wearing  the  breastplate  of 
righteousness  and  carrying  the  sword  of  the  spirit ;  let  it  be  known 
that  they  are  citizens  of  a  nation  which  respects  the  rights  of  the 
citizens  of  other  nations  as  carefully  as  it  protects  the  rights  of  its 
own  citizens,  and  the  welcome  given  to  our  missionaries  will  be 
more  cordial  than  the  welcome  extended  to  the  missionaries  of  any 
other  nation." 

But  Bryan's  stand  on  imperialism  was  not  to  bring  him  political 
victory.  The  campaign  of  1900  ended  in  defeat.  McKinley  polled 
7,207,923  popular  votes  against  Bryan's  6,358,133 — very  little  change 
from  the  popular  vote  of  four  years  before.  The  electoral  vote  was 
292  for  McKinley  against  155  for  Bryan. 

But  again,  in  defeat,  Bryan,  the  fighter,  kept  his  courage.  Not 
in  the  loftier  vein  of  his  formal  speeches,  but  in  an  interview  with 
a  newspaper  correspondent  and  in  whimsical,  every  day  language, 
he  declared: 

"Imperialism  is  still  the  most  important  question  before  the 
people.  It  is  like  an  attack  of  heart  disease,  while  the  tariff  ques- 
tion can  be  compared  to  the  stomach  ache,  which  is  uncomfortable, 
but  not  vital." 


CHAPTER  XIV 


The  Commoner 

Founds  "The  Commoner,"  January,  1901 — Its  Advertising  Policy — 
Eight  Hour  Day  for  All  Employes— Annual  Picnic— "Bill"  Bryan 
Plays  Baseball — Memory  for  Names  and  Faces — Labor  Day 
Speech — Looks  and  Acts  Like  Great  Commoner — His  Reading — 
Farmer's  Club — Story  of  Johnny  Cole,  the  Conductor — Story  of 
Barry,  the  Coachman — Characteristics  That  Made  Him  the  Com- 
moner. 

At  the  turn  of  the  century,  in  the  month  of  January,  1901,  Wil- 
liam Jennings  Bryan  established  a  weekly  publication,  The  Com- 
moner, in  Lincoln.  He  had  been  chief  of  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  Omaha  World-Herald;  he  had  reported  the  Republican  con- 
vention of  1896  in  St.  Louis  for  the  paper;  he  had  been  a  special 
writer  for  newspaper  syndicates.     And  now  he  became  a  publisher. 

The  paper  grew  and  was  circulated  all  over  the  United  States. 
Daily  journals  watched  its  editorial  comment.  Frequently,  in  the 
midst  of  some  vivid  issue  in  which  Bryan  was  interested,  the  news- 
papers of  the  country  would  carry,  in  their  news  columns,  a  story 
to  the  effect  that  "tomorrow  The  Commoner  will  say"  thus  or  so. 

For  releases  of  Bryan's  editorials  were  given  to  the  press  the 
night  preceding  their  actual  appearance. 

For  twenty-two  years  The  Commoner  was  a  significant  figure 
in  both  the  publication  and  the  political  world.  It  was  founded 
by  Bryan,  and  he  was  virtually  always  its  editorial  writer.  But 
his  brother,  ex-Governor  Charles  Bryan  of  Nebraska,  was  for 
many  years  its  managing  director.  Outside  duties  grew  so  mani- 
fold and  pressed  down  so  heavily  on  the  brothers  that  Charles 
Bryan,  on  the  20th  of  April,  1923,  announced  that  the  monthly 
paper  would  cease  publication  with  the  April  issue. 

196 


Underwood  &   Underwood   photo. 


Commoner  and  Evangelist — Bryan  meets  and  chats  with  Billy  Sunday. 
The  two  were  always  warm  friends  and  mutual  admirers. 


THE  COMMONER  199 

But  The  Commoner  was  more  than  a  journal  issued  so  many 
times  a  year  and  read  by  many.  It  was  a  concrete  evidence  of 
those  attributes  in  William  Jennings  Bryan  which  won  for  him  the 
name,  the  "Great  Commoner."  Its  very  name  reflected  one  of 
the  big,  motivating  forces  in  the  life  of  its  founder. 

Even  in  the  administration  of  the  paper,  the  attributes  of  the 
Commoner  were  manifest.  The  western  advertising  manager  for 
the  publication  was  wont  to  mourn  over  the  beggarly  two  or  three 
columns  of  advertising  carried  by  an  influential  paper  with  a  large 
circulation. 

The  answer  was  that  Bryan  refused  to  divorce  editorial  re- 
sponsibility from  advertising  income.  He  felt,  nay  he  insisted,  that 
no  advertisement  should  appear  in  the  paper,  for  which  the  editors 
could  not  vouch,  morally,  as  well  as  every  other  way. 

In  another  way,  too,  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
paper  exemplified  the  characteristics  of  its  editor  and  founder. 

Though  Bryan  seldom  went  to  the  newspaper  office  and 
did  most  of  his  writing  in  his  study  at  home,  he  had  a  strict  office 
rule,  and  that  was  that  there  must  be  an  eight  hour  day  for  every- 
one. Paradoxically  enough,  some  rebelled  at  this.  Once,  the  as- 
sistant editor,  a  former  daily  newspaper  man,  growled  and  fussed, 
at  a  great  rate,  all  because  "the  boss"  wouldn't  let  him  follow  his 
accustomed  schedule  of  many  more  hours  than  eight. 

Once  a  year  the  entire  force  was  taken  out  on  an  all-day  picnic. 
And  it  wasn't  "Mr.  Bryan,  the  editor,"  it  was  "Will"  Bryan,  the 
good  fellow.  He  ran  in  the  races;  he  climbed  the  greased  pole. 
Or,  as  a  faithful  reporter  records,  "he  tried  to."  And,  with  still 
something  of  that  college  boy  agility  which  used  to  distinguish 
him  in  the  broad  jump,  Bryan  would  play  baseball  and  play  it  well. 

Of  course  he  knew  every  man  and  woman  connected  with  the 
publication  of  the  paper.  He  knew  pretty  nearly  everybody  in 
Lincoln,  they  say. 


200  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Bryan  had  a  wonderful  memory  for  names  and  for  faces.  Nor 
did  he  neglect  that  talent  as  soon  as  a  campaign  was  over.  He  was 
the  commoner,  not  the  politician,  in  his  pursuit  of  friends. 

One  day  about  this  time  he  was  watching  a  crowd  of  working- 
men  busy  on  the  construction  of  a  house  which  was  being  built  by 
his  old  friend,  Judge  Tibbetts.  Bryan  called  each  man  by  name. 
Presently  he  noticed  a  man  digging  for  the  cellar  foundation. 

"There's  a  man  I  don't  know,"  the  Commoner  remarked  to  Judge 
Tibbetts,  "Who  is  he?" 

The  judge  told  him. 

"I'd  like  to  meet  him,"  Bryan  continued.  And  the  judge  brought 
about  an  immediate  introduction. 

A  few  years  later,  in  his  Labor  Day  speech  of  1908,  which  he 
delivered  in  Chicago,  he  explained  his  reasons  for  naming  his  paper 
as  he  did,  and  his  belief  that  "we're  all,  or  nearly  all,  in  the  same 
class." 

"The  effort  of  the  Democratic  party,  my  friends,"  he  said,  "is 
to  protect  the  rights  and  guard  the  interests  of  the  average  man. 
I  want  to  remind  you  that  we're  all,  or  nearly  all,  in  the  same  class. 
When  I  gave  my  paper  the  name  'Commoner,'  the  Republicans  made 
fun  of  it  and  said  it  was  reflecting  on  the  people  to  call  them  the 
common  people.  Yet  the  fact  is  that  the  highest  compliment  ever 
paid  to  any  one  was  to  the  common  people.  When  Christ  was  on 
earth  preaching  to  men  the  Bible  says  the  'common  people  heard 
Him  gladly.' 

"Just  a  few  can  claim  to  be  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  common 
people.  The  uncommon  people  are  not  so  numerous  as  they  think 
they  are  and  not  nearly  so  important.  Lincoln  said  God  must  have 
loved  the  common  people  because  He  made  so  many  of  them. 

"I  have  no  fear  of  the  future  because  the  kindness  of  my  coun- 
trymen has  given  me  an  advantage  that  places  me  above  want.  But 
why  should  I  be  less  interested  in  the  welfare  of  others  just  because 


THE  COMMONER  201 

I  happen  to  be  beyond  the  fear  of  want.  It  was  not  my  fault 
that  my  father  was  able  to  send  me  to  school  where  he  had  to 
school  himself.  And  when  I  was  in  college  I  used  to  envy  those 
who  worked  their  way  through.  I  wondered  if  I  could  do  as  well 
as  that.  My  father  worked  hard  for  the  little  he  got  in  this  life, 
yet  I  would  rather  have  the  blood  of  that  father  in  my  veins  than 
the  blood  of  the  proudest  nobleman  of  Europe." 

And  in  another  speech  in  which  he  outlined  his  ideas  of  the 
ethics  of  accumulation  in  this  world,  he  had  this  to  say: 

"In  this  country,  more  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  we 
appreciate  the  dignity  of  labor  and  understand  that  it  is  honorable 
to  serve.  And  yet  there  is  room  for  improvement,  for  all  over  our 
land  there  are,  scattered  here  and  there,  young  men  and  young 
women — and  even  parents — who  still  think  that  it  is  more  re- 
spectable for  a  young  man  to  spend  in  idleness  the  money  someone 
else  has  earned  than  to  be  himself  a  producer  of  wealth.  And  as 
long  as  this  sentiment  is  to  be  found  anywhere,  there  is  educational 
work  to  be  done,  for  public  opinion  will  never  be  what  it  ought  to 
be  until  it  puts  the  badge  of  disgrace  upon  the  idler,  no  matter  how 
rich  he  may  be,  rather  than  upon  the  man  who  with  brain  or  muscle 
contributes  to  the  nation's  wealth,  the  nation's  strength  and  the 
nation's  progress.  But,  as  I  said,  the  inheritance  is  an  apparent, 
not  an  actual,  exception,  and  we  will  return  to  the  original  proposi- 
tion— that  one's  earnings  must  be  measured  by  the  service  rendered." 

Bryan  did  more  than  talk  about  being  a  commoner;  more  even 
than  acting  the  part  of  one.  He  looked  like  one.  Why,  they  are 
still  telling  the  story,  in  Chicago,  of  the  day  he  got  into  town,  a 
delegate  to  the  Democratic  convention  of  1896.  He  went  to  one 
of  the  downtown  hotels  and  he  was  so  plainly  dressed  that  the 
clerk,  after  taking  one  look  at  him,  requested  him  to  pay  in  advance. 

And  then,  the  yarn  goes,  they  put  him  in  a  room  with  seven 
Republicans. 


202  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Bryan  had  a  democratic  mind.  He  didn't  care  for  what  he 
called  "intellectual  snobbishness."  The  newest  things  in  the  drama, 
in  poetry,  in  the  opera  or  any  of  the  other  arts,  didn't  appeal  to  him. 

What  was  good  enough  for  the  common  man  was  good  enough 
for  him.  He  read  Emerson  and  Longfellow  where  he  left  uncut, 
perhaps,  the  pages  of  Nietzsche,  Schopenhauer  and  Ibsen. 

It  was  the  same  with  clubs.  Bryan  knew  everybody;  Bryan 
liked  to  make  new  friends.  Meeting  people  was  never  a  task  for 
him.  And  yet,  back  in  Lincoln,  he  preferred  the  Farmers'  club  to 
the  Country  club.  The  Country  club,  he  argued,  was  of  no  interest 
to  him.  He'd  rather  raise  potatoes  than  drive  a  golf  ball  over  the 
fairway.  Besides,  the  Country  club  had  a  bar,  and  he  didn't  approve 
of  that. 

So  the  Farmers'  club  it  was.  It  was  an  old-fashioned  organiza- 
tion, holding  monthly  meetings  during  the  winter  at  the  homes  of 
its  members.  They'd  come  in  the  morning,  mother,  father,  all  the 
children,  and  maybe  an  aunt  or  two.  And  they'd  stay  all  day. 
Each  family  brought  its  own  lunch  basket,  filled  with  the  best  things 
the  best  cooks  could  make.  After  dinner  the  women  would  retire 
to  the  kitchen  and  do  the  dishes.  The  men  would  sit  in  the  "front 
room,"  smoke  and  talk. 

Dishes  over  with,  the  women  came  in,  took  out  their  sewing  and 
discussed  household  problems. 

The  Bryan s  went  to  these  meetings  and  every  once  in  so  often 
the  Farmers'  club  held  its  meeting  at  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bryan. 

One  of  the  favorite  stories  told  in  Lincoln,  illustrating  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  Commoner,  is  the  one  about  Johnny  Cole,  a  trolley 
car  conductor,  and  his  plum  pudding. 

Johnny  Cole,  it  seems,  was  a  native  of  Oxfordshire,  England, 
and  as  he  took  in  the  fares  and  rang  the  bell  up  and  down  the 
Lincoln  streets  he  thought  often  of  his  mother,  still  over  in  England. 


THE  COMMONER  203 

Just  before  Bryan  started  for  his  trip  around  the  world,  Johnny 
Cole  had  him  as  a  passenger  on  the  way  from  Lincoln  to  his  Fair- 
view  farm.  As  Bryan  handed  him  his  fare,  the  conductor,  very 
embarrassed,  leaned  over  and  whispered  into  the  Commoner's  ear: 

"Say,  Mr.  Bryan,  when  you  get  to  England  would  you  please 
look  my  mother  up?" 

"Certainly,  Johnny,"  and  Bryan  already  had  his  pencil  and  paper 
waiting  to  take  down  her  address. 

Months  later,  Bryan  slipped  away  from  his  London  engagements 
and  went  out  to  Oxfordshire.  He  spent  an  entire  day  with  Mrs. 
Cole.  When  he  was  going  she  hesitatingly  produced  a  fat  bundle, 
saying,  as  she  handed  it  over: 

"God  bless  you,  Mr.  Bryan,  for  this  visit.  My  boy  writes  me 
you  are  the  greatest  man  in  the  world,  and  I  believe  him.  Would 
you  do  a  mother  a  favor,  just  as  you  did  her  son  a  favor?  Would 
you  please  take  this  to  Johnny?" 

The  package  contained  a  plum  pudding,  a  big  one. 

Mr.  Bryan  kept  the  faith  with  that  pudding.  He  stowed  it  away 
in  his  luggage  and,  in  the  course  of  time,  delivered  it  to  the  ecstatic 
trolley  car  conductor. 

Johnny  Cole's  plum  pudding  was  long  preserved  under  a  glass 
case.     Perhaps  it  still  is.     At  least  the  story  is. 

And  one  more  story  of  the  Commoner.  This  time  it  took  place 
when  he  was  secretary  of  state.  In  Washington  he  had  the  same 
coachman  who  had  been  in  the  employ  of  many  former  Secretaries 
of  State.  Bryan  took  an  interest  in  him.  A  few  days  before  the 
St.  Patrick's  Day  dinner  which  the  Irish  societies  of  the  city  were 
giving,  he  asked  his  driver  if  he  were  going  to  attend.     He  said  no. 

Bryan,  who  was  going  to  deliver  an  address  at  the  banquet, 
promptly  promised  to  see  that  the  coachman  was  sent  an  invitation. 

The  night  of  March  17  came  around.  Bryan  went  up  to  the 
table.     The   driver   was   there.     More  than  that,   he   was   on   the 


204  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

program.  For  being  a  guest  of  honor,  and  bearing  the  name 
"Barry,"  which  chanced  to  take  alphabetical  precedence  over  every 
other  name  that  night,  the  delighted  but  bewildered  coachman  found 
that  his  name,  like  Abou  Ben  Adam's,  led  all  the  rest. 


CHAPTER  XV 


Around  the  World 

Temporary  Withdrawal  from  Active  Politics — Not  a  Candidate 
in  1904 — Alton  B.  Parker  runs  against  Roosevelt — "The  Peerless 
Leader" — Starts  Trip,  September  21, 1905 — Japan  and  China — "The 
White  Man's  Burden" — Philippines — India — Palestine — Turkey 
The  Capitals  of  Europe — Entertained  by  Princes — Return  to 
America — Triumphant  Reception. 

Bryan  may  have  been  in  the  political  background  in  those  years 
between  1904  and  1908;  but  he  was  certainly  in  the  public  fore- 
ground. He  was  writing  articles ;  he  was  making  speeches ;  and  he 
was  traveling  about  the  world,  dining  with  potentates,  supping  with 
cottagers,  and  meeting  new  people  every  day. 

In  1904  Bryan  retired  temporarily  and  Alton  B.  Parker,  then 
Chief  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  New  York  State  was  made 
the  Democratic  nominee  for  President.  At  the  party's  conven- 
tion that  year  Bryan  definitely  opposed  what  he  charged  was  the 
assembly's  conservative  attitude  in  naming  Judge  Parker. 

Out  of  the  main  whirl  of  politics,  and  with  his  new  farm  at  Fair- 
view  well  in  order,  Bryan,  after  a  year  of  writing  and  speech-mak- 
ing, determined  to  go  abroad.  Back  in  1903  he  and  his  son,  William 
Jennings  Bryan,  Jr.,  had  gone  to  Europe  and  toured  something  like 
ten  of  the  countries.  This  time  it  was  to  be  a  round-the-world 
jaunt,  and  he  took  with  him  his  wife,  their  son,  and  their  younger 
daughter,  Grace. 

With  many  a  cheer  sounding,  the  Bryan  party  left  Fairview  on 
the  21st  day  of  September,  1905,  and  sailed  out  of  San  Francisco 
the  27th  of  that  month.  The  fifth  of  the  following  September,  with 
many  a  flag  waving  and  the  band  playing,  they  returned  to  their 

205 


206  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

home  town,  having  circled  the  globe  in  just  sixteen  days  less  than 
a  year. 

The  trip  couldn't  have  brought  much  rest  to  Bryan ;  but  it  gave 
him  many  new  contacts,  many  new  experiences.  As  the  world 
traveler,  he  exemplified  three  of  the  titles  which  his  own  country 
had  already  given  him. 

As  the  "Peerless  Leader"  he  enunciated  several  of  his  policies: 
international  peace,  disarmament,  to  mention  just  two,  before  great 
bodies  in  the  nation's  capitals. 

As  the  "Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte"  he  literally  talked  his  way 
around  the  world. 

And  as  the  "Great  Commoner"  he  slipped  away  from  important 
gatherings  to  chat  with  a  cabby ;  he  ran  off  to  call  on  the  mother  of 
a  trolley  car  conductor ;  he  was  never  too  busy  to  stop  and  become 
acquainted  with  some  humble  soul. 

The  Bryans  went  first  to  Japan  and  China.  In  Japan  it  was  one 
long  triumph  for  the  man  from  Nebraska.  His  speech  entitled,  "The 
White  Man's  Burden,"  especially  delighted  the  Nipponese,  and  was 
highly  commended  by  the  Japanese-American  society.  He  and  his 
wife  were  presented  to  the  Emperor. 

In  his  speech  acknowledging  the  hospitality  of  the  ruler,  Bryan, 
in  a  rhetorical  image  that  was  fanciful,  humorous,  but  still  mindful 
of  the  1896  campaign  for  free  silver  and  the  16  to  1  ratio,  said : 

"I  have  been  tenderly  drawn  toward  the  Emperor  of  Japan  be- 
cause when  His  Majesty  established  the  chrysanthemum  as  the  im- 
perial emblem,  he  drew  the  flower  with  sixteen  petals,  thus  giving 
the  highest  Oriental  sanction  to  the  doctrine  of  sixteen  to  one." 

It  was  in  Japan  that  he  chose  the  cloisonne  ware  as  the  coun- 
try's most  artistic  offering.  His  reason,  he  said,  might  have  been 
tied  up  with  the  fact  that  a  cloisonne  vase  always  seemed  to  him 
to  illustrate  the  development  of  man. 

"There  is  first  the  vase,  then  the  tracing  of  the  design  upon  it, 


AROUND  THE  WORLD  207 

then  the  filling  in  of  the  colorings,  and,  finally,  the  polishing  that 
brings  out  the  beauty." 

At  a  reception  in  Tokio,  when  an  admiral  suggested  that  he  use 
champagne  instead  of  water  to  drink  a  toast,  Bryan  made  his  famous 
reply : 

"You  won  your  victories  on  water  and  I  drink  to  your  health 
in  water;  whenever  you  win  any  victories  in  champagne  I  shall  drink 
your  health  in  champagne." 

The  incident  was  told  of  all  over  Japan  and  the  National  Tem- 
perance society  presented  Bryan  with  a  badge  in  recognition  of  his 
service  to  the  cause. 

At  the  ambassador's  dinner  in  Tokio,  Bryan  praised  the  "Korean 
Lions"  for  "several  reasons  and  one  of  the  most  important  is  that 
they  represent  the  affirmative  and  negative.  I  noticed  today  that 
one  of  them  had  his  mouth  open  as  though  he  were  saying  'Yes,' 
and  the  other  had  his  mouth  tightly  closed  as  if  he  had  just  said  'No.' 
Both  the  affirmative  and  the  negative  are  necessary.  The  conserva- 
tive is  necessary  to  keep  the  radical  from  going  too  fast,  and  the 
radical  is  necessary  to  make  the  conservative  go  at  all." 

A  few  days  later  the  Bryans  were  presented  with  a  pair  of  the 
"Korean  Lions,"  which  they  took  home  and  placed  as  guards  at  the 
portal  of  their  Fairview  home. 

In  China,  Bryan  collected  material  for  a  monograph  which  he 
was  soon  to  write,  entitled  "Letters  to  a  Chinese  Official."  It  was  a 
defense  of  a  Christian  civilization,  and  was  an  answer  to  a  book, 
"Letters  of  a  Chinese  Official,"  which  he  had  read  several  years 
before  and  which  had  aroused  his  indignation. 

Bryan's  liberal  views  on  Filipino  independence  endeared  him  to 
the  natives  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  The  Moros  of  Mindanao 
Island  made  him  a  "datto,"  or  chief. 

Then  on  to  India,  Palestine,  all  through  the  Holy  Land.  The 
Bryans  gathered  up  pebbles  from  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  carried 


208  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

back  a  pebble  as  a  remembrance  for  each  member  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  their  church  at  Normal,  Nebraska,  the  town  near  Lincoln 
in  which  Fairview  was  located. 

A  sunrise  in  the  Himalayas  moved  him  to  this  symbolic  descrip- 
tion: 

"But  to  return  to  the  mountains  themselves ;  the  view  from  Dar- 
jeeling  is  unsurpassed.  The  Kinchinjunga  Peaks  rise  to  a  height  of 
28,156  feet  above  the  sea,  or  nearly  twice  as  high  as  Pike's  Peak, 
and  although  forty-five  miles  distant,  are  clear  and  distinct.  The 
summits,  seen  above  the  clouds,  seem  to  have  no  terrestrial  base, 
but  hang  as  if  suspended  in  mid  air.  The  best  view  is  obtained  from 
Tiger  Hill,  six  miles  from  Darjeeling  at  an  altitude  of  9,000  feet. 
We  made  this  trip  one  morning,  rising  at  three  o'clock  and  reaching 
the  observation  point  a  little  before  sunrise.  I  wish  I  were  able  to 
convey  to  the  reader  the  impression  made  upon  us. 

"While  all  about  us  was  yet  in  darkness,  the  snowy  robe  which 
clothes  the  upper  12,000  feet  of  the  range,  caught  a  tint  of  pearl 
from  the  first  rays  of  the  sun,  and,  as  we  watched,  the  orb  of  day, 
rising  like  a  ruby  globe  from  a  lake  of  dark  blue  mist,  gilded  peak 
after  peak  until  at  last  we  saw  Mount  Everest,  earth's  loftiest  point, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  away  and  nearly  a  thousand  feet 
higher  than  Kinchinjunga.  We  saw  the  shadows  fleeing  from  the 
light  like  hunted  culprits  and  hiding  in  the  deep  ravines,  and  we 
marked  the  triumph  of  the  dawn  as  it  swept  down  the  valleys. 

"How  puny  seem  the  works  of  man  when  brought  into  compari- 
son with  majestic  nature !  His  groves,  what  pigmies  when  measured 
against  the  virgin  forest!  His  noblest  temples,  how  insignificant 
when  contrasted  with  the  masonry  of  the  hills!  What  canvas  can 
imitate  the  dawn  and  sunset!  What  inlaid  work  can  match  the 
mosaics  of  the  mountains ! 

"Is  it  blind  chance  that  gives  these  glimpses  of  the  sublime? 
And  was  it  blind  chance  that  clustered  vast  reservoirs  about  inacces- 


AROUND  THE  WORLD  209 

sible  summits  and  stored  water  to  refresh  the  thirsty  plains  through 
hidden  veins  and  surface  streams? 

"No  wonder  man  from  the  beginning  of  history  has  turned  to 
the  heights  for  inspiration,  for  here  is  the  spirit  awed  by  the  infinite 
and  here  one  sees  both  the  mystery  of  creation  and  the  manifesta- 
tions of  the  Father's  loving  kindness.  Here  man  finds  a  witness, 
unimpeachable  though  silent,  to  the  omnipotence,  the  omniscience 
and  the  goodness  of  God." 

Turkey,  Austria-Hungary,  Germany,  and  into  all  the  principal 
countries  of  Europe.  In  Italy,  in  the  Catholic  capital,  Bryan  found 
much  to  please  him. 

"The  dominant  feature  of  Rome,"  he  wrote,  "is  the  religious 
feature,  and  it  is  fitting  that  it  should  be  so,  for  here  the  soil  was 
stained  with  the  blood  of  those  who  first  harkened  to  the  voice  of 
the  Nazarene — here  a  cruel  Nero  lighted  his  garden  with  human 
torches,  little  thinking  that  the  religion  of  those  whom  he  burned 
would  in  time  illumine  the  earth." 

In  Germany  a  Reichstag  custom,  which  he  recommends  to  the 
consideration  of  our  own  Congress,  won  his  interest. 

"In  the  Reichstag  they  have  resorted  to  a  device  for  saving  time 
in  roll  call.  Each  member  is  supplied  with  a  quantity  of  tickets, 
some  pink  and  some  white.  Each  ticket  bears  on  both  sides  the 
name  of  the  member.  On  the  white  tickets  the  word  'Ja'  (yes) 
appears  under  the  name;  on  the  pink  ones  'Nein'  (no).  These  bal- 
lots are  gathered  up  in  vases  containing  two  receptacles,  one  white 
and  the  other  pink.  The  vases  are  carried  through  the  hall  and 
votes  deposited  according  to  color.  As  they  are  deposited  in  the 
different  receptacles  and  are  distinguished  by  color,  the  ballot  is 
quickly  taken  and  counted — in  about  one-fourth  the  time,  I  think, 
formerly  required  for  roll  call.  This  is  a  method  which  our  Con- 
gress might  find  it  convenient  to  adopt." 

Of  Switzerland  he  said,  "No  wonder  it  is  free.     The  beauty  of 


210  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

the  country  inspires  a  love  of  native  land  and  the  mountains  form  a 
natural  fortress  behind  which  the  Swiss  people  could  withstand 
armies  many  times  the  size  of  their  own." 

In  France,  Bryan  was  impressed  with  the  beauty  and  the  solemn 
dignity  of  Napoleon's  tomb  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  adjoining 
Les  Invalides.  The  scene  moved  him  to  an  utterance  on  peace  and 
the  Prince  of  Peace  as  contrasted  with  this  mighty  soldier. 

"Looking  down  upon  the  sarcophagus,"  Bryan  said,  "and  the 
stands  of  tattered  battle  flags  that  surround  it,  I  reviewed  the  tragic 
career  of  this  grand  master  of  the  art  of  slaughter,  and  weighed, 
as  best  I  could,  the  claims  made  for  him  by  his  friends.  And  then 
I  found  myself  wondering  what  the  harvest  might  have  been  had 
Napoleon's  genius  led  him  along  peaceful  paths,  had  the  soil  of 
Europe  been  stirred  by  the  ploughshare  rather  than  the  trenchant 
blade,  and  the  reaping  done  by  implements  less  destructive  than  his 
shot  and  shell. 

"Just  beyond  and  above  the  entombed  emperor  stands  a  cross 
upon  which  hangs  a  life-sized  figure  of  the  Christ,  flooded  by  a 
mellow  lemon-colored  light,  which  pours  through  the  stained  glass 
windows  of  the  chapel. 

"I  know  not  whether  it  was  by  accident  or  design  that  this  god 
of  war  thus  sleeps,  as  it  were,  at  the  very  feet  of  the  Prince  of 
Peace. 

"Whether  so  intended  or  not,  it  will  to  those  who  accept  the 
teachings  of  the  sermon  on  the  Mount,  symbolize  love's  final  victory 
over  force  and  the  triumph  of  that  philosophy  which  finds  happiness 
in  helpful  service  and  in  doing  good." 

Bryan  arrived  in  London  on  the  third  of  July,  1906.  The  fol- 
lowing day  he  delivered  a  Fourth  of  July  speech  which  was  widely 
quoted  in  European  and  American  newspapers. 

Its  concluding  paragraph  follows : 

"On  the  walls  of  the  temple  at  Karnak  an  ancient  artist  carved 


AROUND  THE  WORLD  211 

the  likeness  of  an  Egyptian  king;  the  monarch  is  represented  as 
holding  a  group  of  captives  by  the  hair,  the  other  hand  raising  a 
club  as  if  to  strike  a  blow.  What  king  would  be  willing  to  confess 
himself  so  cruel  today?  In  some  of  the  capitals  of  Europe  there 
are  monuments  built  of,  or  ornamented  with,  cannon  taken  in  war; 
this  form  of  boasting,  once  popular,  is  still  tolerated,  though  it  must 
in  time  give  way  to  some  emblem  of  victory  less  suggestive  of 
slaughter.  As  we  are  gathered  tonight  in  England's  capital,  permit 
me  to  conclude  with  a  sentiment  suggested  by  a  piece  of  statuary 
which  stands  in  Windsor  Castle.  It  represents  the  late  lamented 
Queen  Victoria  leaning  upon  her  royal  consort;  he  has  one  arm 
about  her,  and  with  the  other  hand  is  pointing  upward.  The  sculptor 
has  told  in  marble  an  eloquent  story  of  strength  coupled  with  tender- 
ness, of  love  rewarded  with  trust,  of  sorrow  brightened  by  hope, 
and  he  has  told  the  story  so  plainly  that  it  was  scarcely  necessary 
to  chisel  the  words:  'Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way.' 
It  was  a  beautiful  conception — more  beautiful  than  that  which  gave 
to  the  world  the  Greek  Slave,  the  Dying  Gladiator,  or  the  Goddess 
Athena,  and  it  embodies  an  idea  which,  with  the  expanding  feeling 
of  comradeship,  can  be  applied  to  the  association  of  nations,  as  well 
as  to  the  relations  that  exist  between  husband  and  wife.  Let  us 
indulge  the  hope  that  our  nation  may  so  measure  up  to  its  great 
opportunities,  and  so  bear  its  share  of  the  White  Man's  Burden,  as 
to  earn  the  right  to  symbolize  its  progress  by  a  similar  figure.  If 
it  has  been  allured  by  Providence  to  higher  ground,  may  it  lead 
the  way,  winning  the  confidence  of  those  who  follow  it,  and  exhibit- 
ing the  spirit  of  Him  who  said,  T,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  Me.'  " 

While  in  London  he  attended  the  English  session  of  the  Inter- 
parliamentary Union  and  made  several  internationally  important 
speeches. 

On  this  trip,   Bryan  met  King  Edward  VII,  the  Emperor  of 


212  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Russia  and  scores  of  officials  through  Europe.  On  his  earlier  visit, 
in  1903,  the  Commoner  had  spent  a  day  with  Count  Leo  Tolstoi, 
whom  he  greatly  respected,  and  to  whom  he  made  frequent  refer- 
ence in  his  writing  and  talking. 

In  his  article,  "The  Value  of  An  Ideal,"  he  has  this  to  say  of 
the  Russian  philosopher: 

"A  few  months  ago  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  spend  a  day 
in  the  country  home  of  the  great  philosopher  of  Russia.  You  know 
something  of  the  history  of  Tolstoi,  how  he  was  born  in  the  ranks 
of  nobility  and  how  with  such  a  birth  he  enjoyed  every  possible 
social  distinction.  At  an  early  age  he  became  a  writer  of  fiction 
and  his  books  have  given  him  a  fixed  place  among  the  novelists  of 
the  century.  'He  sounded  all  the  depths  and  shoals  of  honor'  in 
so  far  as  honor  could  be  derived  from  society  or  from  literature, 
and  yet  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  life  seemed  so  vain  and  empty  to 
him  that  he  wanted  to  die.  They  showed  me  a  ring  in  the  ceiling 
of  a  room  in  his  house  from  which  he  had  planned  to  hang  himself. 
And  what  deterred  him?  A  change  came  in  his  ideal.  He  was 
born  again;  he  became  a  new  creature,  and  for  more  than  twenty- 
eight  years,  clad  in  the  garb  of  a  peasant  and  living  the  simple  life 
of  a  peasant,  he  has  been  preaching  unto  all  the  world  a  philosophy 
that  rests  upon  the  doctrine,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.'  There  is  scarcely  a  civil- 
ized community  in  all  the  world  where  the  name  of  Tolstoi  is  not 
known  and  where  his  influence  has  not  been  felt.  He  has  made 
such  an  impression  upon  the  heart  of  Russia  and  the  world  that 
while  some  of  his  books  are  refused  publication  in  Russia  and  denied 
importation  from  abroad,  and  while  people  are  prohibited  from 
circulating  some  of  the  things  that  he  writes,  yet  with  a  million 
men  under  arms  the  government  does  not  lay  its  hands  upon 
Tolstoi." 

In  connection  with  that  first  visit  to  Count  Tolstoi,  one  recalls  the 


AROUND  THE  WORLD  213 

story  which  Bryan  loved  to  tell.  It  relates  to  the  day  he  spent  with 
the  Russian,  of  their  long  walk  and  their  horseback  ride.  Upon 
their  return  to  Tolstoi's  home,  Bryan  confided  to  the  philosopher's 
physician  that  he  feared  he  had  tired  the  old  gentleman  by  the 
strenuous  exercise. 

Whereupon  the  physician  countered,  laconically.  "On  the 
contrary,  Mr.  Tolstoi  was  fearful  lest  he  should  fatigue  you.  Con- 
sequently he  curtailed  both  his  walk  and  his  ride  this  morning." 

His  world  tour  completed,  Bryan,  after  receiving  as  much 
recognition  as  if  he  had  been  the  chief  executive  of  a  nation,  pre- 
pared to  return  to  America.  Then  his  homeland  began  to  bid  for 
first  opportunity  to  welcome  him.  Cablegrams  arrived  from  New 
York,  from  Lincoln,  from  the  small  town  of  Normal,  from  scores 
of  places  on  the  route  between  New  York  and  Lincoln. 

Just  as  he  stepped  aboard  the  liner  which  was  to  bring  him  to 
America  he  was  handed  a  cablegram,  which  read:  "Do  nothing 
until  you  hear  from  Normal."  In  spite  of  this  zeal  on  the  part  of 
the  people  in  Normal,  Bryan  and  his  party  were  feted  all  across  the 
continent. 

While  in  Egypt,  some  months  before,  the  Traveling  Men's  Bryan 
club  of  New  York  had  written  to  invite  the  Commoner  to  attend 
a  welcoming  reception  in  New  York  City  to  be  held  under  their 
auspices.    Bryan  accepted. 

Begun  as  a  small  enough  affair,  it  went  along  like  a  snowball, 
gathered  up  groups  here,  delegations  there.  Virtually  every  state  in 
the  union  sent  representatives;  the  leading  Democrats  they  were. 
The  homecoming  took  on  national,  rather  than  local  proportions. 
The  original  plan  to  hold  it  in  a  hotel  had  to  be  abandoned. 

The  reception  was  held  in  Madison  Square  garden.  Bryan's 
speech  on  that  occasion  charted  out  the  questions  which  seemed  an 
inevitable  part  of  the  next  presidential  campaign.  Bryan  was  pro- 
claimed as  the  next  nominee  of  the  party  for  President  and  a  sub- 


214  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

stantial  boom  was  launched  and  continued,  unopposed,  for  some 
months  until  some  of  the  eastern  Democrats  started  the  Johnson 
boom. 

Leaving  New  York,  Bryan,  with  his  family  and  a  delegation  of 
1 'boomers,"  traveled  across  the  country  in  a  five-coach  special  train 
which  made  stops  along  the  way  to  enable  the  "Peerless  Leader," 
as  he  was  called  on  many  a  lip,  to  fill  speaking  engagements. 

On  the  day  of  his  arrival  in  Lincoln  the  leading  Republican  paper 
printed  his  picture  on  the  front  page,  and  beneath  it  a  double 
column  of  verse  beginning: 

"Praise  the  Lord  for  times  when  people,  bidding  politics  to  be  still, 
Meet  and  greet  the  common  hero  with  expressions  of  good  will." 

Each  stanza  concluded  with  the  phrase,  "You  are  welcome,  Mr. 
Bryan,  we  are  glad  to  see  you  back." 

At  the  grounds  of  the  state  capitol  a  Republican  mayor  presided, 
while  60,000  persons  from  the  city  and  country  shook  hands  with 
their  neighbor  who  had  returned  to  them. 

Then  on  to  Normal,  out  about  four  miles  from  Lincoln,  where 
his  farm  estate,  "Fairview,"  was  located.  The  little  church  had 
been  turned  into  a  festive  bower  of  goldenrod  and  American  flags. 
As  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryan  entered  the  church  the  congregation  rose 
and  sang,  "My  Country,  'Tis  of  Thee."  Speeches  of  welcome  were 
made  by  the  minister,  the  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school,  the 
village  grocer,  and  "Uncle"  Jack  Wolfe. 

In  his  response,  Bryan,  his  voice  choked  with  feeling,  said: 

"We  have  visited  the  temples  of  the  Orient.  We  have  stood 
in  the  most  magnificent  cathedrals  of  Europe,  my  wife  and  I,  but 
after  all,  we'd  rather  be  here  in  this  little  white  church  at  Normal." 

Then  he  distributed  to  each  member  of  the  congregation  the  peb- 
bles which  he  and  Mrs.  Bryan  had  gathered  up  from  the  Sea  of 
Galilee. 


©  Underwood  &  Underwood   photo. 

Candidate  of  1920 — Bryan  with  James  M.  Cox,  former  governor  of  Ohio, 
arid  presidential  candidate  in  1920. 


Underwood  &  Underwood   photo. 


Candidate  of  1924 — Bryan,  with  his  brother,  Charles  W.  Bryan,  former 
governor  of   Nebraska,  and  vice-presidential  candidate  in   1924. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


The  Fairview  Farmer 

Moves  to  Fairview,  Oct.  1,  1902 — First  Five  Acres — Library — 
Curios — Billiard-room — Hat  Collection — Basement  Workshop — 
Advantages  of  Farming— His  Clothes— The  "Bryan"  Tie — His 
Eating — "Chicken  With  Plenty  of  Gravy" — Japanese  Foster-son — 
Qualifications  for  President — Philanthropy — Chicago  Man  Who 
Buys  Bryan's  Half-Dollar. 

That  September  day  when  Bryan  returned  from  his  famous  trip 
around  the  world,  he  went,  you  will  recall,  out  to  Normal,  Nebraska, 
a  village  some  four  miles  to  the  south  and  east  of  Lincoln.  This 
had  been  the  Bryan  home  ever  since  October,  1902,  when  they  had 
moved  into  "Fairview,"  their  farm  estate. 

Quite  appropriately,  it  was  on  October  1,  1901,  the  seventeenth 
anniversary  of  their  marriage,  which  was  also  the  fourteenth  anni- 
versary of  the  arrival  in  Nebraska  of  the  young  Jacksonville  lawyer, 
that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryan  saw  the  first  spadeful  of  earth  removed 
from  the  plot  of  ground  on  which  their  new  home  was  to  stand. 

Exactly  one  year  later,  October  1,  1902,  the  home  was  ready 
for  occupancy  and  the  Bryans,  with  their  three  children,  moved 
into  it. 

Mrs.  Bryan,  in  the  closing  paragraphs  of  her  sketch  of  her  hus- 
band's earlier  life,  says: 

"The  house  stands  upon  a  knoll  and  the  place  is  called  'Fair- 
view,'  because  of  the  beauty  of  the  valley  which  the  house  overlooks. 
Here  Mr.  Bryan  spends  the  time  not  occupied  in  traveling  and  the 
family  enjoys  the  advantages  of  both  the  country  and  the  city." 

This  estate,  in  its  full  glory,  comprised  153  acres.  But  it  had  a 
modest  beginning,  not  inconsistent  with  the  Commoner's  way  of 
doing  things. 

217 


218  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Just  a  few  years  after  the  "boy  orator"  had  removed  to  Lincoln 
he  saved  up  enough  money  to  purchase  five  acres  of  farm  land  in 
Normal.    The  land  sold  for  $250  an  acre,  or,  as  he  phrased  it : 

"I  paid  $100  for  scenery  on  each  acre,  $100  for  climate,  and 
$50  for  soil." 

Gradually  he  accumulated  more  and  more  land  until  the  entire 
153  acres  were  his.  The  house  was  large,  rambling,  with  an  attrac- 
tive veranda.  Flanking  the  broad  stone  steps  leading  to  the  porch 
were  reproductions  of  the  two  Korean  lions  which  Bryan  had  so 
much  admired  when  in  Korea;  Radicalism,  with  his  lips  seeming 
to  say  "Yes";  and  Conservatism,  with  his  lips  tightly  compressed, 
as  if  scrunching  down  on  an  emphatic  "No." 

On  the  first  floor  of  the  home,  the  most  interesting  room,  un- 
doubtedly, was  the  library.  From  the  windows  looked  down  por- 
traits of  Lincoln,  of  Webster,  and  one  of  the  Great  Commoner  him- 
self, done  in  oil;  and  of  course  there  was  a  picture  of  his  friend, 
Count  Tolstoi.  Thomas  Jefferson,  another  one  of  his  revered  heroes, 
looked  down  from  over  a  bookcase.  And  Mrs.  Bryan  smiled  her 
serene  smile  out  across  the  room. 

More  fancifully,  near  the  door,  hung  a  picture  of  our  national 
capital  in  Washington,  cunningly  contrived  in  straw,  the  work  of 
an  Italian  admirer. 

Book  shelves  lined  the  walls.  There  were  books  on  history,  on 
politics,  many  on  religion,  some  on  poetry.  George  Ade  was  there. 
And  Shakespeare  and  Longfellow. 

All  about  were  curios,  sent  in  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Hun- 
dreds of  bits  of  bric-a-brac,  the  gifts  of  hundreds  of  Bryan's  hosts 
on  his  international  trip,  stood  on  tables  and  shelves,  rested  in  cases, 
or  edged  themselves  into  stray  corners.  It  was  like  studying  a 
geography  lesson  to  step  inside  the  room. 

Up  one  floor,  in  the  billiard  room,  was  another  cross  section  of 
the  world.    For  this  room  was  literally  laden  down  with  mementoes 


THE  FAIRVIEW  FARMER  219 

sent  to  Bryan  from  some  of  his  missionary  friends.  There  was  a 
coy  Buddhist  god,  marvelously  wrought  in  gold.  There  were  other 
gods,  fashioned  in  other  materials. 

One  of  Bryan's  favorite  collections  was  a  group  of  hats,  sent 
in  from  the  Philippines,  from  Samoa,  from  Korea  and  Borneo;  a 
jaunty  hat  from  Paris;  a  staid  one  from  London;  a  richly  made 
one  from  Persia.  Hats  denoting  caste  and  hats  signifying  the  lack 
of  it.  Hats  for  priests  and  poets;  for  maidens  and  chieftains. 
Bryan  loved  to  play  with  these  quaint  bits  of  headgear. 

A  pleasant  way  he  had  of  delighting  a  guest  and  entertaining 
himself,  was  to  take  the  visitor  to  the  billiard  room  and  stage  a 
merry  pantomime.  With  hat  number  one  went  a  certain  grimace. 
Hat  number  two  called  for  an  entirely  different  set  of  facial  expres- 
sions and  gestures. 

But  Bryan  loved  to  don  them  all,  even  including  the  fantastic 
and  grotesque  bonnet  for  the  Parsee  widow. 

The  desk  in  the  library  was  usually  swept  almost  clean  of  papers 
and  working  materials.  This  was  because  Bryan  did  most  of  this 
work  in  his  study,  located  in  the  basement.  Here  he  dictated 
to  secretaries.  Here  he  saw  to  the  answering  of  every  one  of  the 
thousands  of  letters  which  came  in  to  him.  Here  he  and  Mrs. 
Bryan  once  sent  replies  to  every  one  of  the  60,000  letters  which 
had  accumulated  during  a  campaign.  Here  he  wrote  his  editorials 
for  The  Commoner. 

Out  at  Fairview  Bryan  was  not  only  the  politician  and  the  writer 
and  orator.  He  was  also  the  farmer.  Like  his  newspaper  office, 
the  farm  was  run  after  the  Commoner's  own  ideas.  For  instance, 
there  were  the  conferences  which  he  held  with  his  hired  men. 

No  formal  meetings,  with  an  order  preceding  them,  and  a  meet- 
ing place  around  a  table.  Rather,  these  conferences  were  chance 
affairs,  likely  to  occur  at  almost  any  time,  and  in  almost  any  place. 


220  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

One  time  it  would  be  the  pig-sty;  another  time  the  barn.  Again,  it 
might  be  the  garden  or  the  wheat  field. 

Bryan  found  the  advantages  of  farming  many  and  satisfying. 
He  argued  that  the  farm  environment  gave  a  child  a  good  mental 
background.  The  enforced  leisure  of  the  long  winter  evenings  fur- 
nished a  splendid  opportunity,  in  his  judgment,  for  extensive  read- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  younger  as  well  as  of  the  older  folks. 

More  deeply,  knowledge  of  the  minutiae  of  the  farm  detail  gave 
a  young  girl  or  boy  a  moral  preoccupation  that  would  carry  over 
into  mature  life,  he  thought.  The  miracles  of  the  Bible,  according 
to  this  theory  of  his,  were  more  readily  understandable  to  the  young 
person  who  had  grown  up  filled  with  first  hand  information  about 
the  miracles  of  plant  and  animal  life  on  the  farm. 

As  a  rhetorical  by-product  of  Bryan's  life  on  the  farm,  we  find 
his  extensive  use  of  the  farm  simile.  The  hog,  with  the  ring  in  his 
nose  to  restrain  his  hoggish  tendencies  of  over-eating,  was  used  in 
one  of  his  famous  speeches.  Scores  of  other  passages  bring  in 
farm  animals.  There  is  the  simile  of  the  radish,  another  of  the 
watermelon,  and  so  on,  through  a  number  of  different  subjects. 

On  the  farm  at  Fairview,  as  well  as  in  European  capitals  or  on 
nationally  known  rostrums,  Bryan  looked,  as  well  as  acted,  the  role 
of  Commoner.  Plain  clothes,  usually  dark  in  color  and  frequently 
black.  He  turned  from  the  Prince  Albert  of  earlier  days  to  the 
more  modern  seersucker  suit.  His  most  characteristic  accessories 
to  the  plain,  easy-fitting  suit  were  a  low-cut  collar  and  the  string- 
bow  tie  which  once  became  so  identified  with  him  that  it  was  called 
the  "Bryan"  tie. 

As  the  Fairview  farmer,  Bryan  was  out  in  the  open  air  much  of 
the  time,  and  had  a  husky  appetite.  "Chicken  with  plenty  of  gravy" 
was  an  epicurean  dainty  to  him.    So  also  was  sweet  corn. 

At  the  time  of  campaigns  when  he  was  so  much  the  pivot  figure 
that  his  breakfast  menu  and  the  size  of  his  collar  were  journalistic 


THE  FAIRVIEW  FARMER  221 

bulletins,  many  stories  used  to  be  printed  about  his  eating  habits. 
For  everybody  knew  that  he  liked  to  eat;  the  lines  of  his  figure 
helped  along  that  story. 

And  so  it  was  that  the  news-gatherers  then  wrote  paragraphs 
on  the  fact  that  he  drank  no  liquid  of  any  kind  with  his  meals. 

"It's  not  because  I  don't  enjoy  washing  down  my  food,"  Bryan's 
chroniclers  would  quote  him  as  saying,  "but  experience  has  taught 
me  that  if  I  do,  I'll  get  too  fat.    I'm  fat  enough  as  it  is." 

Banquets,  however,  held  no  lure  for  Bryan.  During  the  latter 
years  of  his  life,  he  turned  rather  away  from  meats  and  preferred 
an  almost  vegetarian  diet.  There  are  stories,  some  of  them  a  bit 
vague,  extant  in  Lincoln  telling  of  banquets  to  which  the  Fairview 
farmer  had  been  invited,  and  at  which  he  rather  astonished  the 
guests  by  appearing  with  a  supply  of  carrots,  radishes,  turnips  and 
other  produce  from  his  own  garden. 

The  ancestor  of  this  anecdote,  like  so  many  that  were  circulated 
about  the  Democratic  leader,  may  easily  have  had  its  source  in  the 
whimsy  of  an  alert  imagination  of  the  teller,  and  may  have  gathered 
momentum  as  it  went.  But  jokes  on  himself  didn't  disturb  Bryan. 
He  liked  cartoons  and  often  made  merry  over  the  many  caricatures 
of  himself  which  appeared  in  newspapers  throughout  this  and  other 
countries,  almost  unintermittently,  for  the  twenty-nine  years  begin- 
ning with  1896  and  ending  with  his  death. 

"I  like,  as  much  as  anybody,"  he  would  say,  "to  see  these  car- 
toons of  myself.  I  enjoy  them  immensely.  And,  besides,  the  car- 
toonist must  live." 

It  was  during  the  more  or  less  quiet  interludes  at  Fairview,  be- 
tween campaigns  and  speaking  tours,  that  anecdotes  not  so  directly 
connected  with  his  public  life  were  circulated. 

For  instance,  the  episode,  and  it  is  a  true  one,  of  the  Japanese 
boy  who  insisted  upon  being  Bryan's  foster-son. 

It  seems  that  in  Japan  it  is  not  unusual  for  a  youth  who  respects 


222  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

and  admires  some  famous  man  to  adopt  that  man  as  a  father,  and 
a  hard  and  fast  custom  obligates  the  foster-father  thus  chosen  to 
care  for  the  young  man,  at  least  until  he  becomes  of  age.  So  it 
was  that,  back  in  1896,  when  Bryan's  fame  was  penetrating  every 
village  and  hamlet  in  the  United  States,  word  of  him  reached  over 
into  Japan  and  stirred  the  heart  of  a  young  Nipponese  student. 

Presently  came  a  letter  to  Bryan,  making  the  somewhat  startling 
revelation  that  the  boy  had  "chosen  you  to  be  my  father,"  and 
would  sail  at  once  for  the  United  States.  The  news  was  disconcert- 
ing, to  say  the  least,  to  the  Bryan  household.  The  collector  of 
the  port  at  San  Francisco  couldn't  suggest  a  way  out  of  the  dilemma. 
And  so  one  morning,  with  no  further  ado,  there  was  a  ring  at  the 
door. 

Bryan  was  the  Commoner;  Bryan  answered  his  own  door  bell. 
That  morning  he  flung  wide  the  door  in  an  hospitable  gesture  that 
revealed  to  his  gaze  a  personable  looking  Japanese  boy  who  wasted 
no  preliminary  words  when  he  announced: 

"I  have  come." 

And  he  had. 

He  was  taken  into  the  Bryan  household.  He  was  given  an  edu- 
cation not  unlike  the  one  William  Jennings  Bryan,  Jr.,  received. 
And  not  so  many  months  after  the  family  removed  to  Fairview,  the 
Japanese  foster-son  left  their  hearth  to  make  his  way  in  the  world. 
For  many  months  one  Yamachita  Y.  Bryan  was  traveling  about  the 
United  States  as  private  secretary  to  a  member  of  the  Japanese 
parliament  who  was  in  this  country  studying  American  industries. 

It  was  in  the  Fairview  study  that  Bryan  first  enunciated  his 
idea  of  the  qualities  necessary  in  a  President  of  the  United  States, 
a  theme  which  was  later  to  be  expanded  into  magazine  articles. 

The  prime  requisite,  as  Bryan  saw  it,  was  a  sympathy  with  the 
entire  people  rather  than  with  any  faction  of  this  country.  Second, 
he  placed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  public  questions  and  an  intuitive 


THE  FAIRVIEW  FARMER  223 

sense  which  should  enable  the  executive  to  distinguish  between  the 
true  and  the  false. 

Equally  important  with  this  point,  Bryan  believed,  was  the  fact 
that  the  President  ought  not  to  have  any  personal  ambition,  but 
should  concentrate  everything  on  his  ambitions  for  his  country. 
Consequently,  he  thought  it  bad  for  a  President  to  take  office, 
cherishing,  even  in  the  back  of  his  head,  a  hope  of  a  second  term. 

It  was  at  Fairview,  too,  that  Bryan's  philanthropic  enterprises 
flourished.  Upon  his  return  from  his  round-the-world  trip,  in  the 
course  of  an  address  to  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions,  he  announced  that  he  was  maintaining  eight 
scholarships  in  American  colleges  in  Japan,  China  and  India. 

"I  created  them  during  my  recent  tour  in  the  East,"  he  said, 
"and  I  expect  to  continue  them  as  long  as  I  am  able,  which  I  rather 
believe  will  be  for  some  time. 

"As  I  told  an  Englishman  whom  I  met  in  the  East,"  he  con- 
tinued, "America  can  not  boast  that  the  sun  never  sets  on  her 
possessions ;  but  we  can  make  the  prouder  boast  that  the  sun  never 
sets  on  American  philanthropy.  What  America  has  done  for  Chris- 
tianity in  the  eastern  parts  of  Asia  has  been  equalled  by  no  other 
country.  Wherever  one  goes  he  finds  the  American  workers  and 
sees  the  beneficient  results  of  American  influence." 

Even  while  he  was  staying  home  at  Fairview,  holding  farm  con- 
ferences, attending  meetings  of  the  Farmers'  club,  writing  articles, 
riding  horseback  and  chatting  with  neighbors,  Bryan's  popularity 
was  not  tapering  off  by  any  manner  of  means. 

For,  on  a  trip  to  Chicago  during  this  period,  Bryan  was  buying 
some  newspapers  at  a  stand  in  a  big  hotel.  He  gave  the  girl  at 
the  counter  half  a  dollar.  While  she  was  making  change  a  young 
man,  standing  back  of  the  Commoner,  began  to  signal  to  her 
frantically. 

She  started  to  turn  away  haughtily,  but  tarried  a  bit  when  the 


224  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

young  man  stepped  up  as  Bryan  turned  away,  and  offered  her  a 
dollar  for  the  coin  which  was  just  about  to  loose  its  identity  in  the 
cash  register.  The  Bryan  fan  pocketed  the  half  dollar,  handed  over 
his  dollar  and  walked  away  exultant. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


Mary  Baird  Bryan 


Bryan's  Ideal  of  Marriage — His  "First  Lady  of  the  Land" — Why 
Mrs.  Bryan  Studied  Law — His  Political  Secretary — Studies  Ger- 
man— Stands  Strenuous  Campaign  Trip  Well — Author — Mother 
and  Housekeeper — Woman's  Club  Work — The  Family. 

"There  is  an  American  ideal  of  marriage,"  wrote  William  Jen- 
nings Bryan  in  "The  Value  of  an  Ideal." 

Then  followed  this : 

"When  two  persons,  drawn  together  by  the  indissoluble  ties  of 
love,  enter  marriage,  each  one  contributing  a  full  part  and  both 
ready  to  share  life's  struggles  and  trials  as  well  as  its  victories  and 
its  joys — when  these,  mutually  helpful  and  mutually  forebearing, 
start  out  to  build  an  American  home  it  ought  to  be  the  fittest  earthly 
type  of  heaven." 

And  the  passage  might  have  been  autobiographical. 

For  it  wasn't  a  mere  flight  of  rhetoric  that  prompted  him  to 
make  that  now  famous  bit  of  repartee  at  the  railroad  station  at 
Lincoln,  Nebraska,  during  one  of  the  home-comings  of  the  1896 
campaign. 

Bryan  and  his  wife,  who  made  a  large  part  of  the  strenuous 
campaign  with  him,  got  of!  their  train  and  were  met  by  a  tremendous 
crowd  of  shouting,  screaming,  jubilant  home- folks,  who  loved  Bryan, 
the  neighbor,  even  though  they  may  have  disagreed  with  Bryan, 
the  politician. 

One  man  from  the  crowd,  climbing  up  to  the  vantage  point  of 
a  baggage  truck,  waved  his  arms  as  if  to  lead  the  men  and  women 
in  a  cheer,  as  he  shouted: 

"Three  cheers  for  the  next  First  Lady  of  the  Land." 

225 


226  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"My  friends  and  neighbors,"  replied  Bryan,  when  the  noise  had 
died  down  a  bit,  "I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  implied  compli- 
ment.    But  to  me  she  has  always  been  the  First  Lady  of  the  Land/' 

And  she  had. 

Ever  since  those  early  days,  back  in  Jacksonville,  when  the  girl 
from  the  Jacksonville  Female  seminary  became  the  bride  of  the 
prize  orator  at  Illinois  college,  Mary  Baird  Bryan  had  been  a 
comrade  and  a  companion  to  her  husband. 

When  she  married  him,  Bryan  was  a  young  lawyer.  Mrs. 
Bryan  proceeded  to  take  a  full  course  in  law,  and  a  few  years 
later  when  she  removed  to  Nebraska  with  him,  she  was  admitted 
to  the  Nebraska  state  bar.  She  did  not  become  a  lawyer  with  the 
idea  of  actively  practicing,  but  rather  of  better  understanding  her 
husband's  work,  of  more  adequately  helping  him,  and  of  more 
deeply  coinciding  with  his  interests. 

"I  studied  law  under  my  husband's  direction,"  she  once  told  a 
friend,  "because  I  wanted  to  know  as  nearly  as  possible  all  that  he 
knew  in  order  that  our  camaraderie  might  be  more  perfect." 

Then  she  added  a  whimsical  postscript: 

"My  father  used  to  say  the  reason  I  studied  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  was  that  I  didn't  want  Mr.  Bryan  to  know  any- 
thing that  I  didn't  know." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  she  did  do  no  small  part  of  the 
work  of  looking  up  records  and  the  like  in  the  cases  which  came 
to  the  young  lawyer's  attention  in  the  earlier  days  of  his  career. 

"I  knew  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  of  politics  or  public  affairs 
when  I  was  married,"  Mrs.  Bryan  admitted  during  the  1896  cam- 
paign. 

"But  my  idea  of  marriage  was  then  and  still  is  that  the  wife, 
to  be  the  husband's  companion,  must  be  his  intellectual  as  well  as 
moral  complement.  Had  Mr.  Bryan  been  a  horseman  instead  of  a 
lawyer  and  politician,  I  would  have  acquainted  myself  as  cheerfully 


MARY  BAIRD  BRYAN,  THE  WIFE  227 

and  thoroughly  with  the  details  of  that  business  as  I  have  with  his 
present  occupation." 

How  adequately  Bryan's  wife  lived  up  to  her  definition  of  a 
wife  and  companion  the  world  will  never  fully  appreciate.  But 
outsiders  marveled  at  the  fullness  of  her  comradeship,  even  as  they 
glimpsed  it. 

Besides  serving  as  a  law  clerk,  looking  up  authorities  for  her 
husband,  Mrs.  Bryan  often  acted  as  his  secretary.  When,  about 
the  time  they  moved  to  Fairview,  Bryan  spent  a  large  part  of  his 
time  writing  articles  for  The  Commoner,  preparing  drafts  of 
speeches,  and  outlining  Chautauqua  addresses,  Mrs.  Bryan  learned 
how  to  use  a  typewriter.  Next  to  his  big  desk  in  the  basement 
study  of  the  Fairview  home  was  a  small  typewriter  stand.  Here 
Mrs.  Bryan  sat,  took  dictation  on  her  machine,  and  answered  the 
thousands  of  letters  that  had  to  be  given  attention. 

At  that  time  all  of  his  mail  was  delivered  to  the  newspaper 
office,  and  supervised  by  his  brother  Charles  before  it  was  passed 
on  to  him.  An  annual  post-bag  containing  300,000  letters  was  not 
anything  unusual. 

Nor  did  the  wife  stop  there.  As  a  bride  she  had  coached  her 
husband,  the  story  goes,  in  best  methods  of  delivery,  until  the  "boy 
orator,"  following  many  directions  which  she  had  given  him,  finally 
won  his  spurs  so  signally  the  day  he  delivered  the  "Cross  of  Gold" 
speech  at  the  Chicago  convention. 

But  she  did  more  than  help  her  husband  in  his  creative  work. 
She  was  anxious  that  he  be  en  rapport,  as  much  as  possible,  with 
the  opinions  of  those  at  home  and  abroad,  who  were  commenting 
on  him,  who  were  criticizing  him. 

And  so  it  developed  that,  along  about  1900,  Mrs.  Bryan,  from 
the  midst  of  a  day  packed  full  with  household  duties,  political  cares, 
social  obligations  and  domestic  demands,  found  time  to  steal  away 
each  morning  for  a  few  hours,  to  take  a  university  course  in  German. 


228  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

A  visitor,  spending  the  night  at  Fairview,  came  to  the  breakfast 
table  the  next  morning,  marked  Mrs.  Bryan's  absence  and  was  told 
by  his  host: 

"Oh,  three  times  a  week  she  goes  to  the  university  before  break- 
fast for  an  early  class  in  German." 

"You  see,"  he  continued,  "I  can't  read  German  and  Mrs.  Bryan 
thought  it  might  be  a  good  thing  to  have  someone  in  the  family 
who  could  get  at  first  hand  the  sentiment  of  the  German  press." 

That  first  amazingly  energetic  campaign  of  1896  saw  Mrs.  Bryan 
accompanying  her  husband  on  a  goodly  arc  of  the  swing  he  made 
around  the  country.  Toward  the  last  part  of  that  trip,  in  the  late 
summer,  she  was  obliged  to  leave  him  to  return  home  and  see  that 
their  children  were  properly  established  in  their  respective  schools. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  trip,  newspaper  correspondents 
aboard  the  campaign  train  indulged  in  almost  daily  pessimistic  pre- 
dictions as  to  how  the  candidate's  wife  would  stand  the  terrible 
strain.  Tomorrow,  they  wrote,  her  nerves  must  surely  break.  Or 
next  day,  she  must  give  way  under  the  strain.  It  seemed  inevitable. 
But  her  nerves  didn't  break.  And  she  didn't  give  way  under  the 
strain.  The  girlish  figure  that  took  its  place,  day  after  day,  in  the 
audiences  the  Commoner  addressed,  stood  the  rigors  of  the  tour 
even  better,  many  will  tell  you,  than  her  robust  husband. 

Throughout  the  days  of  travel  and  hurry,  of  meeting  thousands 
and  being  jostled  about  among  tens  of  thousands,  she  kept  well 
groomed,  she  looked  attractive,  and  most  important,  she  kept  her 
temper.  Kept  her  temper  even  when  the  gibes  and  jeers  of  a  hostile 
audience  assailed  her  husband,  and  hurled  themselves  against  her 
ears. 

She  was  always  a  friend  of  the  newspaper  correspondents.  Just 
a  few  weeks  ago,  when  two  or  three  press  representatives  were 
introduced  to  her,  as  she  sat  in  her  wheel  chair  on  the  piazza  of 


MARY  BAIRD  BRYAN,  THE  WIFE  229 

the  Rogers  home,  she  extended  her  hand  in  greeting,  smiled  cor- 
dially and  said : 

"You  are  reporters?  I  am  glad,  indeed,  to  know  you.  I  have 
been  meeting  reporters  all  my  life." 

Then,  too,  we  must  not  forget  that  Mrs.  Bryan  is  an  author. 
She  wrote  the  biographical  sketch  of  her  husband's  life  which  pre- 
cedes his  volume  entitled  "The  First  Battle."  That  work  itself 
was  largely  inspired  and  suggested  by  her.  Much  of  its  active 
preparation  she  superintended. 

But  Mary  Baird  Bryan  was  not  simply  a  pleasant,  industrious 
and  companionable  political  secretary  to  her  husband.  During  the 
busiest  hours  of  the  campaigns  she  took  personal  charge  of  her 
home  and  of  her  three  children,  Ruth,  William  Jennings,  Jr.,  and 
Grace. 

If  her  husband's  schedule  were  an  arduous  one  there  at  Fair- 
view,  so  was  hers.  Up  at  five,  and  busy  with  household  duties. 
An  hour  or  so  at  the  university.  Then  down  to  the  basement  work- 
shop, there  to  help  her  husband.  About  three  in  the  afternoon  she 
was  free  to  take  part  in  the  civic  and  political  interests  of  the  town. 
Perhaps  it  was  a  meeting  of  the  Farmers  club;  perhaps  a  visit  to 
the  office  of  The  Commoner,  where  she,  like  her  husband,  knew 
everybody.  Maybe  it  was  being  hostess  to  a  delegation  of  important 
official  visitors,  or  to  a  group  of  equally  important,  very  humble 
unofficial  guests.    Or,  maybe,  a  meeting  of  the  Woman's  club. 

Mrs.  Bryan  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  "Sorosis"  club 
in  Lincoln.  At  the  meetings  of  women,  Mrs.  Bryan's  words  were 
always  listened  to  with  interest  for  they  were  sure  to  be  informative. 
But  she  was  always  judiciously  careful  not  to  speak  "for  the 
family,"  and  often  as  not  she  would  remain  silent  when  some  ques- 
tion was  being  discussed,  when  she  knew  that  her  words  might  be 
interpreted  as  coming  from  Bryan  and  might  reveal  some  confi- 
dential secret  of  which  she  knew. 


230  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Mrs.  Bryan,  during  those  crowded  days,  received  a  goodly  share 
of  mail  herself.  All  manner  of  notes  asking  aid,  charity,  support, 
were  received  by  her.  Each  of  them  she  answered,  referred  to  the 
proper  channels,  or  otherwise  took  care  of.  As  indicative  of  the 
variety  of  requests  she  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving,  there  is  the 
story  of  the  young  lady,  of  whom  Mrs.  Bryan  had  never  heard, 
who  wrote  in  and  asked  for  a  "pink  silk  dress." 

Then  there  was  the  letter  from  a  man  in  a  western  city,  telling, 
tragically  enough,  of  how  he  had  been  crippled  for  life  in  an  election- 
day  quarrel  when  he  heroically  defended  Mr,  Bryan  from  an 
abusive  attack.  This  letter  was  sent  over  to  a  charity  organization. 
A  few  days  later  it  was  revealed  that  Mrs.  Roosevelt  had  received 
a  similar  letter.  Only  in  her  note  the  gentleman,  of  course,  said  it 
was  Theodore  Roosevelt  whom  he  had  championed. 

The  Bryans  had  three  children,  all  of  them  now  alive. 

Ruth  Baird  Bryan,  the  oldest,  is  married  to  Major  John  Owen. 

William  Jennings  Bryan,  Jr.,  the  middle  child,  while  attending  the 
University  of  Nebraska,  met  Miss  Helen  Virginia  Berger  of  Mil- 
waukee.    They  were  married  in  1909. 

Grace  Dexter  Bryan,  the  younger  daughter,  is  Mrs.  Richard 
Hargraves. 

At  the  Democratic  national  convention  in  New  York  in  1924, 
Bryan  sought  out  the  newspaper  men  one  night.  As  he  was  one 
of  the  central  figures  of  that  convention,  any  news  he  might  give  out 
was  sure  to  be  significant  So  the  men  rushed  about  him,  pencils 
poised. 

Mr.  Bryan,  with  a  bit  of  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  said,  "Boys,  I've 
a  piece  of  news  that  you'll  want." 

Then  he  reached  over,  took  a  pencil  away  trom  one  young  man's 
hand,  wrote  for  a  minute  on  a  piece  of  paper,  and  handed  over  the 
bulletin. 

"A  great  granddaughter  was  born  today  to  Mr.  Bryan.     The 


MARY  BAIRD  BRYAN,  THE  WIFE  231 

parents   are   William   P.   Meeker  and   Kitty   Owen   Meeker,    Mr. 
Bryan's  oldest  grandchild." 

Then  he  walked  away  before  the  newspaper  men  could  recover 
their  wits  quickly  enough  to  congratulate  him. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


Conventions  of  1904  and  1908 

St.  Louis  Convention — Seconds  Nomination  of  Senator  Cockrell — 
"I  Have  Kept  the  Faith" — Denver  Convention — Monopolies — 
Dining-room  Anecdote — Salem — Chicago  Speech — Election  Eve — 
Speech  to  Neighbors — Election  Returns — Taft  Wins,  Bryan  De- 
feated. 

The  1904  Democratic  convention,  held  at  St.  Louis,  was  for 
Bryan  more  or  less  of  an  interlude,  during  which  he  gathered  mo- 
mentum to  make  his  next  and  last  presidential  fight,  following  the 
1908  convention  at  Denver.  During  this  time,  too,  the  somewhat 
vague  ideas  as  to  what  should  be  done  about  the  trust  question 
were  crystallizing,  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  into  a  definite 
Bryan  ideal. 

At  the  St.  Louis  convention  the  Commoner  seconded  the  nomina- 
tion of  Senator  F.  M.  Cockrell  for  presidential  nominee  and  opposed 
the  convention's  choice  of  Alton  B.  Parker.  Later,  however,  the 
Nebraskan  went  out  and  stumped  for  Parker. 

But  the  St.  Louis  convention  is  important,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  Bryan's  connection  with  it,  for  his  famous  "I  have  kept  the 
faith"  speech.  It  was  made  when  he  seconded  Senator  Cockrell's 
nomination.    Some  extracts  from  it  follow: 

"Eight  years  ago  a  Democratic  national  convention  placed  in 
my  hand  the  standard  of  the  party  and  commissioned  me  as  its 
candidate.  Four  years  later  that  commission  was  renewed.  I  come 
tonight  to  this  Democratic  national  convention  to  return  the  com- 
mission. You  may  dispute  whether  I  have  finished  my  course,  but 
you  cannot  deny  that  I  have  kept  the  faith. 

"As  your  candidate  I  did  all  that  I  could  to  bring  success  to  the 

232 


©  Underwood  &   Underwood   photo. 


At  Home  in  Florida — Bryan  and  his  wife  photographed  on  the  lawn  of 

their  home  at  Cocoanut  Grove,  a  suburb  of  Miami.  Florida,  where  he 

lived  for  the  last  few  months  preceding  his  death. 


2     E 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1904  AND  1908  235 

party;  as  a  private  citizen  I  feel  more  interested  in  a  Democratic 
success  today  than  I  ever  did  when  I  was  a  candidate. 

"The  reasons  that  made  the  election  of  a  Democrat  desirable 
were  stronger  in  1900  than  in  1896,  and  the  reasons  that  make  the 
election  of  a  Democrat  desirable  are  stronger  now  than  they  were 
in  1900. 

"The  gentleman  who  presented  New  York's  candidate  dwelt 
upon  the  dangers  of  militarism,  and  he  did  not  overstate  those 
dangers. 

"Let  me  quote  the  most  remarkable  passage  ever  found  in  a 
speech  nominating  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 

"Governor  Black,  of  New  York,  in  presenting  the  name  of  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  to  the  Republican  convention  of  this  year  used 
these  words: 

"  'The  fate  of  nations  is  still  decided  by  their  wars.  You  may 
sing  in  your  schools  the  gentle  praises  of  the  quiet  life;  you  may 
strike  from  your  books  the  last  note  of  every  martial  anthem,  and 
yet  out  in  the  smoke  and  thunder  will  always  be  the  tramp  of  horses 
and  the  silent,  rigid,  upturned  face.  Men  may  prophesy  and  women 
pray,  but  peace  will  come  here  to  abide  forever  on  this  earth  only 
when  the  dreams  of  childhood  are  the  accepted  charts  to  guide 
the  destinies  of  men.' 

"Will  you  Democrats  of  New  York  present  a  graver  indictment 
against  President  Roosevelt  than  that?  Can  you  of  the  south  pre- 
sent a  more  serious  accusation?  I  do  not  ask  concerning  the  char- 
acter of  the  President.  He  may  have  every  virtue ;  his  life  may  be 
exemplary  in  every  way;  but  if  he  shares  the  views  of  the  man  who 
placed  him  in  nomination;  if  he  believes  with  his  sponsor  that  wars 
must  settle  the  destinies  of  nations ;  that  peace  is  but  an  idle,  child- 
ish dream;  that  woman  may  pray  for  it;  that  men  may  prophesy 
about  it;  but  that  all  this  talk  of  'orderly  tribunals  and  learned 
referees'  is  but  an  empty  sound — if  he  believes  these  things  he  is 


236  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

a  dangerous  man  for  our  country  and  for  the  world.  I  believe  he 
ought  to  be  defeated ;  I  believe  he  can  be  defeated. 

"If  we  are  going  to  have  some  other  god  besides  this  modern 
Mars,  presented  to  us  by  Governor  Black,  what  kind  of  a  god  is  it 
to  be?    Must  we  choose  between  a  god  of  war  and  a  god  of  gold? 

"If  there  is  anything  that  compares  in  hatefulness  with  mili- 
tarism on  the  one  side  it  is  plutocracy,  and  I  insist  that  the  Demo- 
cratic party  ought  not  to  be  compelled  to  choose  between  militarism 
on  the  one  side  and  plutocracy  on  the  other. 

"I  have  not  come  to  ask  anything  of  this  convention.  Nebraska 
asks  nothing  but  to  be  permitted  to  fight  the  battles  of  democracy; 
that  is  all.  Some  of  you  call  me  a  dictator.  It  is  false.  You  know 
it  is  false.  How  have  I  tried  to  dictate  ?  I  have  said  that  I  thought 
certain  things  ought  to  be  done.  Have  you  not  exercised  the  same 
privilege?  Why  have  I  not  a  right  to  suggest?  Because  I  was 
your  candidate,  have  I  forfeited  the  right  to  make  suggestions? 
Sirs,  if  that  condition  were  attached  to  a  nomination  for  the  Presi- 
dency, no  man  worthy  to  be  President  would  ever  accept  a  nomina- 
tion. For  the  right  of  a  man  to  have  an  opinion  and  to  express 
it  is  more  important  and  more  sacred  than  the  holding  of  any  office 
however  high. 

"I  desire  to  second  the  nomination  of  a  man  whose  name  has 
already  been  presented,  and  I  second  his  nomination,  not  because  I 
can  assert  to  you  that  he  is  more  available  than  any  other  person 
who  might  be  named,  but  because  I  love  the  man  and  because  on  the 
platform  we  have  adopted  there  is  no  good  reason  why  any  demo- 
crat in  the  east  should  vote  against  him.  I  second  the  nomination 
of  Senator  Cockrell  of  Missouri. 

"The  great  issue  in  this  country  today  is  'democracy  versus 
plutocracy/  I  have  been  accused  of  having  but  one  idea — silver. 
A  few  years  ago  it  was  said  that  I  had  only  one,  but  then  it  was 
tariff  reform.     But  there  is  an  issue  greater  than  the  silver  issue, 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1904  AND  1908  237 

the  tariff  issue,  or  the  trust  issue.  It  is  the  issue  between  democracy 
and  plutocracy — whether  this  is  to  be  a  government  of  the  people, 
administered  by  officers  chosen  by  the  people,  and  administered  in 
behalf  of  the  people,  or  a  government  by  the  moneyed  element  of 
the  country  in  the  interest  of  predatory  wealth.  This  issue  is 
growing. 

"I  ask  you  to  help  us  to  meet  this  issue.  You  tell  me  that  the 
Republican  candidate  stands  for  militarism.  Yes,  but  he  also  stands 
for  plutocracy.  You  tell  me  that  he  delights  in  war.  Yes,  but  there 
is  another  objection  to  him,  and  that  is  that  he  does  not  enforce 
the  law  against  a  big  criminal  as  he  does  against  a  little  criminal 
The  laws  must  be  enforced.  The  government  must  be  administered 
according  to  the  maxim :  'Equal  rights  to  all  and  special  privileges 
to  none.' 

"Let  me  warn  you  that  if  the  Democratic  party  is  to  save  this 
nation,  it  must  save  it,  not  by  purchase,  but  by  principle.  That  is 
the  only  way  to  save  it.  Every  time  we  resort  to  purchase,  we 
encourage  the  spirit  of  barter.  Under  such  a  system  the  price  will 
constantly  increase,  and  the  elections  will  go  to  the  highest  bidder. 
If  the  Democratic  party  is  to  save  this  country,  it  must  appeal  to 
the  conscience  of  the  country.  It  must  point  out  impending  dangers ; 
and  if  the  party  will  nominate  a  man,  I  care  not  from  what  part  of 
the  country  he  comes,  who  is  not  the  candidate  of  a  faction,  who  is 
not  the  candidate  of  an  element,  but  the  candidate  of  the  party, 
the  party  will  stand  by  him  and  will  drive  the  Republican  party 
from  power. 

"I  simply  submit  these  suggestions  for  your  consideration.  I  am 
here  to  discharge  a  duty  that  I  owe  to  the  party.  I  knew  before 
coming  to  this  convention  that  a  majority  of  the  delegates  would 
not  agree  with  me  in  regard  to  the  financial  plank.  I  knew  that 
there  would  be  among  the  delegates  many  who  voted  against  me 
when  I  sorely  needed  their  help.    I  am  not  objecting  to  the  majority 


238  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

against  me,  nor  to  the  presence  of  those  who  left  us  in  1896  and 
have  since  returned;  I  am  here,  not  because  I  enjoy  being  in  the 
minority,  but  because  I  owe  a  duty  to  the  more  than  six  million 
brave  and  loyal  men  who  sacrificed  for  the  ticket  in  recent  cam- 
paigns. I  came  to  help  to  get  them  as  good  a  platform  as  I  could  ; 
I  have  helped  to  get  them  a  good  platform.  I  came  to  help  to  get 
as  good  a  candidate  as  possible,  and  I  hope  that  he  will  be  one  who 
can  draw  the  factions  together — one  who  will  give  to  us  who 
believe  in  positive,  aggressive,  Democratic  reforms,  something  to 
hope  for,  something  to  fight  for, — one  who  will  also  give  to  those 
who  have  differed  from  us  on  the  money  question  something  to 
hope  for,  something  to  fight  for.  And  I  close  with  an  appeal  from 
my  heart  to  the  hearts  of  those  who  hear  me :  Give  us  a  pilot  who 
will  guide  the  Democratic  ship  away  from  the  Scylla  of  militarism 
without  wrecking  her  upon  the  Charybdis  of  commercialism." 

So  much  for  the  St.  Louis  convention. 

Four  years  later,  at  the  Denver  convention  of  1908,  we  see 
Bryan  making  a  tremendous  fight  against  the  trusts.  This  fight, 
most  logically,  would  have  been  inevitable  back  in  his  1900  cam- 
paign. But  the  Spanish- American  war  came  along  just  then  and 
focalized  Democratic  public  opinion,  and  especially  Bryan's,  on  the 
issue  of  anti-imperialism. 

Back  in  1899,  Bryan,  in  a  visit  to  Colorado,  had  said  in  an  inter- 
view that  his  suggested  remedy  for  the  trust  difficulty  was  the  man- 
datory licensing  of  a  corporation  before  it  could  do  business  outside 
the  state  in  which  it  was  organized.  This  remedy  was  suggested  by 
him  at  an  anti-trust  conference  held  in  Chicago  in  the  fall  of  that 
year.  At  that  conference,  Bryan  delivered  a  speech  which  began 
with  the  sentence  later  to  become  a  slogan,  and  still  later,  a  part  of 
the  Democratic  platform. 

"I  begin  with  the  declaration,"  Bryan  stated,  "that  a  monopoly 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1904  AND  1908  239 

in  private  hands  is  indefensible  from  any  standpoint  and 
intolerable." 

That  sentence,  or  its  variant,  "A  private  monopoly  is  indefensi- 
ble and  intolerable,"  appeared  in  the  Democratic  platform  in  1900, 
again  in  1904,  and  word  for  word,  in  this  platform  on  which  Bryan 
ran  for  the  Presidency  in  1908. 

Pandemonium  reigned  at  Denver  the  day  that  Bryan,  still  able 
to  get  the  multitudes  to  cheer  for  him,  if  they  wouldn't  all  vote  for 
him,  was  nominated  as  the  Democratic  standard  bearer. 

The  following  paragraph  from  his  speech  of  acceptance  in  this 
campaign  is  reproduced  here  because  it  has  been  so  widely  quoted : 

"There  is  a  Divine  law  of  rewards.  When  the  Creator  gave  us 
the  earth,  with  its  fruitful  soil,  the  sunshine  with  its  warmth,  and 
the  rains  with  their  moisture,  He  proclaimed,  as  clearly  as  if  His 
voice  had  thundered  from  the  clouds :  'Go,  work,  and  according  to 
your  industry  and  your  intelligence,  so  shall  be  your  reward.'  Only 
where  might  has  overthrown,  cunning  undermined,  or  government 
suspended  this  law,  has  a  different  law  prevailed.  To  conform  the 
government  to  this  law  ought  to  be  the  ambition  of  the  statesman; 
and  no  party  can  have  a  higher  mission  than  to  make  it  a  reality 
wherever  governments  can  legitimately  operate." 

Then  began  the  campaign. 

Back  in  1896,  during  the  first  campaign,  enemies  had  twitted  the 
"boy  orator"  for  being  a  none  too  financially  successful  lawyer. 
Now,  twelve  years  later,  enemies  denounced  him  for  his  wealth. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  neither  indictment  was  true. 

In  1896,  his  account  books  showed  a  pleasant  enough  record  for 
an  attorney  who  was  both  young  and  a  comparative  stranger.  And 
in  1908,  though  the  Fairview  home  was  adequate,  comfortable,  well 
equipped,  it  was  no  palace  of  luxury.  Nor  was  it  at  all  dispropor- 
tionate to  the  money  which  he  had  gathered  through  his  energies  as 
editor,  writer  and  lecturer. 


240  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

At  the  very  start  of  the  campaign  an  amusing  incident  occurred. 
The  members  of  the  Democratic  national  committee  visited  their 
candidate  at  his  Fairview  home  on  the  14th  of  July,  1908.  Mrs. 
Bryan  and  her  daughter,  Grace,  personally  superintended  the  serv- 
ing of  the  luncheon  to  this  committee.  Fried  chicken,  salad  and 
vegetables  from  the  farm;  peaches  and  apples  from  the  orchards, 
were  on  the  menu.  Few  things  that  made  their  way  to  the  table 
that  day  had  not  come  right  from  Fairview. 

As  the  men  were  ushered  into  the  dining  room  Bryan,  smiling, 
turned  to  them  and  said: 

"My  dining  room  will  seat  only  forty-six.  The  dining  room  at 
the  White  House  is  larger/' 

This  campaign,  while  not  such  a  whirlwind  of  motion  as  the 
1896  one,  kept  the  candidate  pretty  much  on  the  alert.  Nor  was 
public  reaction  dimmed  to  his  appeal.  He  visited  his  birthplace, 
Salem,  Illinois,  August  27,  1908.  His  train  pulled  in  at  6 :30  in  the 
morning,  but  there  was  scarcely  a  soul  in  the  town  who  did  not  turn 
out  to  meet  his  distinguished  townsman.  Bryan  went  to  the  old 
cemetery  to  place  wreaths  of  flowers  on  the  graves  of  his 
mother  and  his  father.  On  his  way  to  the  train,  a  committee  of 
citizens  gave  him  $400  as  a  contribution  to  his  campaign  expenses. 

The  seventh  of  September  found  him  in  Chicago,  addressing 
15,000  workingmen  in  an  enthusiastic  meeting  at  which  labor  and 
the  trusts  were  the  main  themes. 

Said  Bryan,  in  that  speech: 

"There  is  in  politics  as  in  electricity,  an  invisible  and  intangible 
something  that  has  as  much  influence  on  the  masses  of  the  people 
as  have  the  platforms  of  political  parties. 

"Four  year  ago  a  man  who  was  against  me  told  me  he  had  had 
a  talk  with  one  of  his  employes,  who  was  a  Bryan  man.  The  em- 
ployer asked  the  man  why  he  was  for  Mr.  Bryan.  In  doing  so,  all 
of  the  issues  of  the  campaign  were  enumerated,  but  the  employe 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1904  AND  1908  241 

answered,  'I'll  tell  you  why  I  am  for  Mr.  Bryan.     I  think  he  is  on 
my  side.' 

"Ill  tell  you,  my  friends,  that  more  people  are  influenced  by  an 
argument  like  that  than  by  any  other,  and  a  man  speaks  in  vain 
who  can't  convince  his  hearers  that  he  is  on  their  side. 

"If  I  spoke  before  a  body  of  trust  magnates,  the  longer  I  spoke 
the  less  votes  I'd  get.  The  thing  to  do  is  to  convince  your  hearers 
that  you  are  on  their  side.  The  Democratic  party  is  on  the  people's 
side  in  this  campaign.  The  Democratic  party  is  on  the  laboring 
man's  side  in  this  campaign. 

"The  trust  and  the  labor  organization  cannot  be  described  in  the 
same  language.  The  trust  magnates  have  used  their  power  to  amass 
swollen  fortunes,  while  no  one  will  say  that  the  labor  organization 
has  as  yet  secured  for  its  members  more  than  their  share  of  the 
profits  arising  from  their  work.  But  there  are  fundamental  differ- 
ences. The  trust  is  a  combination  of  dollars ;  the  labor  organization 
in  an  association  of  human  beings.  In  a  trust,  a  few  men  attempt 
to  control  the  product  of  others ;  in  a  labor  organization,  the  mem- 
bers unite  for  the  protection  of  that  which  is  their  own — namely, 
their  own  labor,  which,  being  necessary  to  their  existence,  is  a 
part  of  them. 

"The  trust  deals  with  dead  matter;  the  labor  organization  deals 
with  life  and  with  intellectual  and  moral  forces.  No  impartial  stu- 
dent of  the  subject  will  deny  the  right  of  the  laboring  man  to  ex- 
emption from  the  operation  of  the  existing  anti-trust  law. 

"If  the  labor  organization  needs  to  be  regulated  by  law,  let  it 
be  regulated  by  a  law  which  deals  with  man  as  man,  and  not  by  a 
law  that  was  aimed  to  prevent  the  cornering  of  a  commodity  or  the 
forestalling  of  the  market." 

There  was  an  accelerated  finish.  Fairview  was  the  scene  of 
wild  excitement  during  the  days  just  preceding  the  election.  Photog- 
raphers,  venders   of   special   Bryan   souvenirs,   crowds   of   people, 


242  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

political  visitors,  everybody  was  making  a  beaten  track  to  the  little 
town  of  Normal. 

On  the  eve  of  election  day  Bryan  made  a  speech  to  his  neighbors. 

But  its  words  have  more  than  a  local  meaning: 

"My  friends,  I  am  at  the  end  of  my  third  presidential  cam- 
paign. Tomorrow,  15,000,000  voters  will  decide  whether  I  am  to 
occupy  the  seat  that  Washington  and  Jefferson  and  Jackson  and 
Lincoln  occupied.  You  will  have  your  part  in  my  victory  or  in  my 
defeat.  It  may  be  that  the  election  will  turn  on  Nebraska,  and  it 
may  be  that  Nebraska  will  turn  on  votes  so  few  in  number  that 
the  city  of  Lincoln  may  decide  the  result.  If  fate  decrees  that  my 
name  shall  be  added  to  the  list  of  Presidents,  and  Nebraska  added 
to  the  list  of  states  that  have  furnished  Presidents,  I  shall  rejoice 
with  you.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  election  shall  be  against  me, 
I  can  feel  that  I  have  left  nothing  undone  that  I  could  have  done 
to  bring  success  to  my  cause.  And  I  shall  find  private  life  so  full 
of  joy  that  I  shall  not  miss  the  Presidency. 

"I  have  been  a  child  of  fortune  from  my  birth.  God  gave  me 
into  the  keeping  of  a  Christian  father  and  a  Christian  mother.  They 
implanted  in  my  heart  the  ideals  that  have  guided  my  life.  When 
I  was  in  law  school,  I  was  fortunate  enough,  as  I  was  in  my  college 
days  to  fall  under  the  influence  of  men  of  ideals  who  helped  to 
shape  my  course;  and  when  but  a  young  man,  not  yet  out  of  col- 
lege, I  was  guided  to  the  selection  of  one  who,  for  twenty-four  years, 
has  been  my  faithful  helpmate.  No  presidential  victory  could  have 
brought  her  to  me,  and  no  defeat  can  take  her  from  me.  I  have 
been  blessed  with  a  family.  Our  children  are  with  us  to  make  glad 
the  declining  years  of  their  mother  and  myself.  When  you  first 
knew  me,  they  called  me,  in  derision,  The  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte.' 
I  have  outlived  that  title,  and  my  grandchildren  are  now  growing 
up  about  me.  I  repeat,  that  I  have  been  fortunate,  indeed.  I  have 
been  abundantly  rewarded  for  what  little  I  have  been  able  to  do, 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1904  AND  1908  243 

and  my  ambition  is  not  so  much  to  hold  any  office,  however  great, 
as  it  is  to  know  my  duty  and  to  do  it,  whether  in  public  life  or  as  a 
private  citizen. 

"If  I  am  elected,  I  shall  be  absent  from  you  but  four  years. 
If  I  am  defeated,  you  will  help  me  to  bear  my  defeat.  And  I 
assure  you  that  the  affection  that  my  countrymen  have  shown  is  to 
me  dearer  than  all  earthly  office.  I  shall  be  content,  if  I  can  deserve 
the  continuation  of  that  affection.  I  have  been  touched  by  the  dem- 
onstrations that  have  been  given  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  but 
in  twelve  years  and  in  three  campaigns,  I  have  never  had  a  welcome 
anywhere  more  generous,  more  enthusiastic  than  you  have  given 
in  Lincoln  tonight/' 

And  when  the  votes  were  counted,  the  tally  gave  7,678,908  votes 
to  William  Howard  Taft,  as  against  the  6,409,104  which  William 
Jennings  Bryan  received.  Taft  had  321  electoral  votes,  to  his 
opponent's  162. 

Again  Bryan  was  the  good  loser. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


Faith  and  Religion 


His  Favorite  Verse — Progressive  in  Politics,  Fundamentalist  in 
Religion — Joins  Presbyterian  Church,  Though  Parents  Are  Bap- 
tists— Attends  Methodist  Church  at  Normal,  Nebraska — Views  on 
Denominationalism — Conspicuous  Part  in  General  Assemblies  of 
Presbyterian  Church — D.  L.  Moody — Religious  Customs — Advice 
to  High  School  Students — America's  Faults — Beliel  in  Foreign 
Missionaries — Passionate  Belief  in  Bible — Bible  by  His  Side  at 
Death. 

When  William  Jennings  Bryan,  a  junior  in  college,  won  an 
oratorical  contest  and  was  awarded  a  volume  of  the  poems  of 
William  Cullen  Bryant,  he  marked  his  favorite  verse  in  his  favorite 
poem  and  gave  the  book  as  his  first  gift  to  Mary  Baird,  the  girl  he 
was  to  marry. 

That  underscored  stanza  was  a  part  of  Bryant's  poem,  "Ode  to 
a  Waterfowl."     It  reads  as  follows : 
He  who,  from  zone  to  zone, 

Guides  through  the  boundless  sky  thy  certain  flight, 
In  the  long  way  that  I  must  tread  alone, 
Will  lead  my  steps  aright." 
Bryan  underscored  those  words  with  pencil  in  the  book.     And 
they,  in  turn,  underscored  themselves  in  spirit  in  Bryan's  heart  and 
soul.     They  formed  the  basic  theme  of  his  life.     As  recently  as  two 
months  before  he  died,  the  Commoner  while  attending  the  general 
assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  said  this : 
"People  often  ask  me  why  I  can  be  a  progressive  in  politics 
and  a  fundamentalist  in  religion. 

"The  answer  is  easy.  Government  is  man-made  and  therefore 
imperfect.   It  can  always  be  improved.    But  religion  is  not  a  man- 

244 


FAITH   AND   RELIGION  245 

made  affair.  If  Christ  is  the  final  word  how  may  anyone  be 
progressive  in  religion? 

"I  am  satisfied  with  the  God  we  have,  with  the  Bible  and  with 
Christ." 

Bryan,  you  will  recall,  inherited  a  strong  religious  tradition.  His 
father,  Judge  Silas  Bryan,  sitting  on  the  bench  in  court,  used  to 
bow  his  head  and  offer  up  a  prayer  when  the  noon  hour  came 
around  each  day.  Judge  and  Mrs.  Bryan  were  Baptists  but  when 
Bryan  was  about  fourteen  he  attended  a  series  of  Presbyterian 
camp-meetings  held  near  his  home  at  Salem.  During  the  course 
of  these  meetings  he  became  desirous  of  affiliating  with  the  Presby- 
terian church.  His  parents  offered  no  objection.  With  their 
full  consent,  he  joined  the  church  of  his  choice  and  became  a 
member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church.  When  he  went 
away  to  college  he  joined  the  First  Presbyterian  church  at  Jackson- 
ville. Upon  removing  to  Lincoln,  he  brought  his  letter  to  the  West- 
minster church  of  Lincoln,  of  which  he  was  a  member  until  he 
moved  down  to  Florida. 

But  when  he  moved  out  to  Fairview,  the  church  nearest  his 
farm  was  the  Methodist  church  of  Normal,  so  he  and  his  family 
became  regular  attendants  there.  In  doing  this,  Bryan  was  only 
putting  into  practice  his  belief  regarding  denominationalism. 

"Are  you  a  denominationalist?"  he  was  once  asked. 

"No,"  he  replied,  and  went  on  to  explain. 

"Denominations  help  to  organize  religion,  and  anything  to  be 
successful  in  these  days  must  be  organized.  But  creed,  to  my  mind, 
is  not  paramount." 

At  the  same  time,  however,  Bryan  took  an  active  and  zealous 
part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  was  one  of 
the  outstanding  laymen  of  that  faith,  and  for  the  few  years  im- 
mediately preceding  his  death  he  was  a  conspicuous  figure,  the 
most  conspicuous   figure,   at  the  annual   Presbyterian  general   as- 


246  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

sembly.  For  three  years  he  came  as  a  commissioner  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Florida. 

At  the  assembly  in  Indianapolis  he  missed  being  elected  moder- 
ator of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  church  by  only  a 
handful  of  votes.  His  successful  opponent  was  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Charles  F.  Wichart,  President  of  the  University  of  Wooster.  It 
was  a  fight  between  the  fundamentalists  and  the  modernists,  and 
the  modernists  won. 

The  following  year,  at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  Mr.  Bryan  made 
the  speech  nominating  the  Rev.  Dr.  Clarence  Edward  Macartney, 
pastor  of  the  Arch  Street  Presbyterian  church,  Philadelphia,  as 
moderator.  Dr.  Macartney,  a  thorough  fundamentalist,  was  elected. 
Bryan  was  made  a  member  of  the  national  council  of  the  Presby- 
terian church. 

At  the  Assembly  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  May,  Bryan  fought  the 
modernists  and  was  credited  with  being  largely  responsible  for  the 
permanent  judicial  commission  rendering  a  decision  that  positive 
belief  in  the  Virgin  was  a  prerequisite  to  the  licensing  of  any  young 
man  to  preach  as  a  Presbyterian  minister. 

Some  persons  considered  that  Bryan  was  responsible  for 
the  defeat  of  the  fundamentalist  ticket  at  Columbus  because  he 
occasioned  a  split  in  the  fundamentalist  vote.  The  night  before 
the  election  Bryan  gave  a  statement  to  the  press  supporting 
for  the  office  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  O.  Thompson,  President  of 
Ohio  State  University.  At  the  last  moment  Dr.  Thompson  with- 
drew. There  was  not  time  for  the  fundamentalists  to  get  together 
on  one  candidate  and  two  fundamentalists  were  nominated.  This 
resulted  in  the  election  of  the  Rev.  Charles  R.  Erdman,  a  professor 
in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  and  pastor  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian church  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  who,  although  a  fundamentalist, 
ran  on  a  "peace"  ticket. 

As  a  youth  Bryan  addressed  religious  meetings.     When  elected 


FAITH    AND   RELIGION  247 

to  Congress  he  gave  up  this  work  temporarily.  Again  in  1900, 
after  two  defeats  for  the  Presidency,  he  returned  to  his  platform 
work.  But  during  the  intervening  period  he  had  really  been 
preaching  the  gospel.  For  his  speeches  are  all  interlarded  with 
quotations  from  the  Scriptures.  Back  in  a  tariff  speech  of  1892, 
his  text  was  "Better  is  a  little  righteousness,  than  great  revenues 
without  right." 

And  his  very  manner  of  delivering  a  political  speech  often 
smacked  of  pulpit  delivery.  There  is  a  story  illustrating  this.  It  is 
to  the  effect  that  Bryan  once  pointed  out  that  the  late  D wight  L. 
Moody  preached  as  a  lawyer  presents  a  case  to  the  jury.  Where- 
upon Moody  remarked  that  if  preachers  would  preach  as  forcibly 
as  Bryan  talked  politics  they  would  make  more  converts. 

His  speeches,  whether  religious  or  political,  had  the  incisive 
quality  of  both  the  lawyer  and  the  preacher. 

As  middle  life  bore  in  upon  him,  the  politician  swung  more 
and  more  articulately  around  to  the  thesis  that  political  issues 
should  be  moral  issues.  All  through  the  early  days  there  had 
been  definite  foreshadowings  of  this  stand,  but,  latterly,  these  fore- 
shadowings  translated  themselves  into  aggressive  tenets.  They 
climaxed  themselves  in  Bryan's  fervent  fight  for  the  right  of  the 
Tennessee  legislature  to  pass  an  anti-evolution  law. 

Not  only  Bryan's  principles,  but  his  practices,  were  deeply  re- 
ligious. He  held  family  worship  every  day.  He  said  grace  at 
every  meal;  at  dinner  at  home  the  family  joined  audibly  in  the 
words  of  thanks.  Nobody  ever  heard  him  swear.  He  never 
drank  nor  smoked.  Virtually  all  of  his  adult  life  he  taught  a  Sunday 
school  class.  First  in  the  tiny  Methodist  church  at  Normal  near  his 
farm.  Later,  when  his  wife's  failing  health  influenced  them  to 
move  to  Florida,  he  taught  a  Bible  class  in  a  grove  at  Miami. 
There,  every  Sunday  morning,  he  would  fan  himself  and  expound 


248  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

the  Scriptures  to  hundreds  of  residents  and  tourists.  This  class 
was  one  of  the  prides  of  his  life. 

In  Congress,  when  the  House  held  a  Sunday  session,  Bryan 
would  leave  his  seat  for  an  hour,  no  matter  how  anxious  he  was 
to  take  part  in  the  debate,  and  go  over  to  a  church  on  Capitol  Hill, 
there  to  lecture  on  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  During  the  heated, 
stressful  times  immediately  before  the  presidential  elections,  Bryan 
even  then  refused  to  campaign  on  Sunday. 

Bryan's  most  famous  non-political  speech  is  "The  Prince  of 
Peace.,,  The  speech,  based  on  deep  religious  convictions,  was  given 
all  through  this  country  and  all  over  Europe.  But  the  audience 
whom  Bryan  best  loved  to  address,  with  this  as  a  message,  was  an 
audience  of  young  men.  He  always  liked  to  talk  to  youth.  The 
following  excerpt  from  a  speech  he  made  to  a  body  of  high  school 
students  at  a  Billy  Sunday  meeting  in  Boston,  is  typical : 

"This  audience  recalls  a  day  in  my  life  forty-two  years  ago 
and  more  when  I  was  a  high  school  boy,  for  I  was  only  fourteen 
when  I  became  a  member  of  a  Christian  church  by  conversion.  I 
look  back  to  that  day  as  the  most  important  day  of  my  life.  It 
has  had  far  more  to  do  with  my  life  than  any  other  day,  and  the 
Book  to  which  I  swore  allegiance  on  that  day  has  been  more  to 
me  than  any  party  platform. 

"I  share  in  the  joy  you  give  to  the  older  generation  in  coming 
tonight  to  put  your  hearts  under  the  influences  of  a  great  appeal. 
Students,  if  you  will  count  the  books  which  you  will  have  to  study 
before  you  complete  the  prescribed  course,  you  will  find  that  it  takes 
a  multitude  of  books  to  train  the  human  mind ;  and  when  you  have 
studied  them  all,  that  mind  is  but  the  agent  of  something  greater 
than  the  mind  itself.  The  mind  is  but  an  instrument  used  by  the 
heart,  and  it  takes  only  one  Book  to  train  the  heart  that  ought  to 
be  the  master  of  the  mind.  All  your  school  books  will  not  save 
your  life  from  failure  if  your  heart  goes  wrong;  if  your  heart 


FAITH   AND   RELIGION  249 

goes  right  it  can  take  a  head,  however  dull,  and  make  it  useful  to 
society. 

''You  come,  therefore,  to  hear  something  more  important  than 
they  teach  in  the  schools.  You  come  to  learn  a  truth  that  ought 
to  enter  into  the  mind  and  sink  into  the  heart  of  every  student, 
namely,  that  there  is  no  reason  why  any  boy  or  girl  should  ever 
make  a  failure  of  life. 

"All  your  learning  will  not  keep  you  from  failing.  Learning 
has  no  power  to  save  a  human  being  from  sin.  You  come  tonight 
to  consider  the  claims  of  a  Book  that  can  save  you,  that  can  add 
to  every  joy  that  comes  through  the  body  or  the  mind,  that  can 
refine  every  pleasure  known  to  the  physical  man  or  to  the  mental 
man.  You  have  come  tonight  to  learn  of  that  larger  life  into  which 
the  great  evangelist  will  invite  you  as  he  presents  to  you  the  only 
Book  that  is  good  always  and  everywhere — the  Book  that  will  guide 
your  foot-steps  when  you  are  young,  and  throw  light  upon  your 
path  during  mature  years,  and  the  only  Book  one  cares  to  have 
beside  him  as  the  evening  of  life  approaches." 

Once  again,  speaking  in  Oakland,  California,  before  a  joint 
meeting  of  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  of  North  America, 
and  the  National  Education  association,  Bryan  summed  up  the 
faults  of  the  American  people  by  charging  that  they  worshipped 
the  gods  of  wealth,  fashion,  fame,  physical  comfort,  travel,  passion, 
chance  and  drink. 

The  greatest  of  the  ten  commandments,  he  declared,  was  "Thou 
shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me." 

Again  and  again,  in  slightly  different  phrases,  came  this  recurrent 
theme,  the  inevitability  of  immortality.  Here  is  one  variation  of 
the  statement. 

"Science  with  its  skepticism,  never  has  discovered  that  God 
wasted.  No  single  atom  of  the  myriad  which  make  creation  up 
exists    without    its    purpose.     That    the    coldest    of    the    material 


250  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

students  all  agree.  Why,  then,  should  the  soul  be  wasted?  Is  it  to 
be  considered  less  in  the  eternal  scheme  of  things  because  it  is 
superior  to  all  other  things  which  have  been  made?  It  seems  to 
me  so  utterly  improbable  that  God  has  failed  to  make  provision 
for  a  future  life  for  us  as  to  become  impossible.  Personally,  I  am 
certain  we  shall  live  again  as  I  am  that  we  live  today.  If  an  in- 
visible germ  of  life  in  every  grain  of  wheat  has  power  to  persist 
through  twice  ten  thousand  generations,  I  shall  not  doubt  that  my 
own  soul  has  power  to  live  on  when  my  earthly  body  shall  have 
been  dissolved  to  dust." 

Foreign  missionaries,  too,  came  in  for  their  share  of  Bryan's 
attention.  Back  eight  years  or  so  before  the  World  War  he  main- 
tained that  Bibles,  not  bullets,  would  bring  about  the  peace  of  the 
world. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbyterian  brotherhood  of  Chicago,  held 
there  February  14,  1909,  Bryan  upheld  the  work  of  foreign  mis- 
sionaries thiswise : 

"The  Christian  religion  is  responsible  more  than  any  other  thing 
for  this  nation's  position  in  the  world,  its  progress  and  the  greatness 
of  its  future.  They  say  our  missionaries  abroad  make  mistakes 
which  get  us  into  trouble  with  other  nations,  and  when  some  un- 
fortunate mistake  is  made  we  hear  learned  discussions  about  the 
dangers  of  sending  out  missionaries. 

"It  is  not  surprising  that  missionaries  do  make  occasional  mis- 
takes. We  have  no  class  of  men  in  this  country  specially  educated 
in  diplomacy  whom  we  can  send  abroad  as  missionaries.  Is  there 
any  class  of  men  who  do  not  make  mistakes?  Is  it  to  be  wondered 
at,  therefore,  that  missionaries  surrounded  by  heathens  do  some- 
times err?" 

At  this  same  meeting  Bryan  took  occasion  to  rebuke  the  men 
of  Chicago  for  their  failure  to  support  the  work  of  the  reformers. 


Underwood  &  Underwood   photo. 


Eclipse  Only  Temporary — "The  eclipse  is  like  the  recent  defeat  of  the 
Democratic  party,"  said  Bryan  as  he  saw  the  moon  blot  out  the  sun, 

January  24,  1925. 


Underwood  &  Underwood   photo. 

Welcome  to  Dayton — Bryan  arrives  for  the  evolution  trial  and  is  greeted 
by  an  enthusiastic  crowd,  who  hail  him  as  their  champion. 


©  Underwood  &  Underwood  photo. 

Counsel  for  the  State — Bryan  standing  in  front  of  the  Rogers  home  (the 
house  in  which  he  died),  surrounded  by  his  associates  in  the   Scopes 

prosecution. 


FAITH   AND   RELIGION  253 

After  looking  about  the  room,  jammed  to  the  doors  with  men,  the 
speaker  said  this: 

"I  have  been  wondering  how  it  is  possible  that  there  can  be  so 
much  in  this  city  that  needs  correction  when  I  see  so  many  Pres- 
byterian men  and  those  of  other  denominations  coming  out  in  such 
bad  weather  to  show  their  interest  in  the  heathen  of  foreign  lands. 
I  cannot  help  reflecting  on  the  vast  amount  of  work  that  is  yet  to 
be  done  at  home.  But  the  work  we  do  abroad  only  strengthens  us 
here,  and  the  evidence  we  collect  through  our  foreign  missionaries 
serves  to  make  our  faith  in  our  country  stronger  and  increases  our 
activities. 

"There  is  more  altruism  in  the  world  today  than  ever  before 
and  Christianity  is  the  cause.  Go  to  the  lands  where  Buddhism, 
Mohammedanism,  or  Confucianism  reigns  supreme  and  you  will 
find  that  except  for  the  few  things  they  have  borrowed  from  the 
Christians  they  have  stood  still  for  2,000  years  or  more.  Christian- 
ity has  lifted  up  nations  in  Europe  that  ten  centuries  ago  were 
sunk  in  the  mire  of  obloquy.  History  shows  it  is  Christianity  that 
has  helped  to  civilize  nations." 

Then,  of  course,  it  is  self-evident  that  Bryan  read  the  Bible, 
that  he  knew  it,  that  he  believed  it  absolutely.  Of  his  adherence 
to  a  literal  belief  in  the  Bible,  more  in  other  chapters.  But  no 
consideration  of  the  faith  and  religion  of  William  Jennings  Bryan 
could  conclude  without  a  stressing  of  the  part  the  Bible  paid  in  his 
life;  personally,  because  he  read  it  every  day;  professionally,  because 
it  dove-tailed  in  to  all  his  political  activities;  rhetorically,  because 
its  quotations  are  to  be  found,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  times  in 
the  syllables,  written,  delivered  or  merely  spoken  informally  by  the 
Commoner. 

And,  dramatically.  For  it  was  in  valiant  defense  of  the  Bible, 
that  Bryan  waged  his  last  great  battle  in  the  little  Tennessee  town. 

And,  the  battle  over,  Bryan  was  sitting  in  his  room  that  Sunday 


254  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

afternoon.  The  open  Bible  lay  at  his  side.  He  had  been  reading 
it  when  he  put  it  down,  slipped  over  to  the  bed  and  lay  down  for 
that  sleep  which  carried  him,  so  gently,  over  into  death. 


CHAPTER  XX 


"The  Prince  of  Peace" 

Had  rather  Talk  on  Religion  than  Politics — This  His  Most  Fa- 
mous Lecture — Heard  by  Millions  Throughout  the  Nation — Stand 
on  Evolution — Plausibility  of  Miracles — The  Watermelon  Illus- 
tration— Why  Christ  is  Truly  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

Literally  millions  of  people  have  heard  this  best  known  of 
Bryan's  lectures,  "The  Prince  of  Peace."  It  was  not  written 
all  at  once,  but  it  grew  and  developed  at  each  repetition.  In  its 
final  form  it  became  Bryan's  presentation  of  his  religious  tenets, 
and  especially  of  the  evidence  supporting  Christ's  title  of  "The 
Prince  of  Peace." 

It  was  Bryan's  most  popular  Chautauqua  lecture,  and  week 
after  week  and  year  after  year  he  gave  it  before  vast  audiences. 
He  preferred  to  give  it  before  gatherings  of  men,  young  men 
especially,  because  he  felt  that  its  message  was  aimed  par- 
ticularly at  that  class  of  hearers.  Not  only  did  he  give  it  all 
over  the  United  States,  but  on  his  tour  of  the  world  he  de- 
livered it  at  Tokio,  Manila,  Bombay,  Cairo,  Jerusalem,  Montreal, 
Toronto,  and  in  other  cities. 

The  outstanding  portions  of  that  famous  speech  follow  here : 

"I  offer  no  apology  for  speaking  upon  a  religious  theme,  for  it 
is  the  most  universal  of  all  themes.  I  am  interested  in  the 
science  of  government,  but  I  am  more  interested  in  religion  than 
in  government.  I  enjoy  making  a  political  speech — I  have  made 
a  good  many  and  shall  make  more — but  I  would  rather  speak 
on  religion  than  on  politics.  I  commenced  speaking  on  the 
stump  when  I  was  only  twenty,  but  I  commenced  speaking  in 
the  church  six  years  earlier — and  I  shall  be  in  the  church  even 

255 


256  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

after  I  am  out  of  politics.  I  feel  sure  of  my  ground  when  1 
make  a  political  speech,  but  I  feel  even  more  certain  of  my 
ground  when  I  make  a  religious  speech.  If  I  addressed  you 
upon  the  subject  of  law  I  might  interest  the  lawyers;  if  I  dis- 
cussed the  science  of  medicine  I  might  interest  the  physicians ; 
in  like  manner  merchants  might  be  interested  in  comments  on 
commerce,  and  farmers  in  matters  pertaining  to  agriculture; 
but  no  one  of  these  subjects  appeals  to  all. 

"Man  is  a  religious  being;  the  heart  instinctively  seeks  for  a 
God.  Whether  he  worships  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  prays 
with  his  face  upturned  to  the  sun,  kneels  towards  Mecca  or, 
regarding  all  space  as  a  temple,  communes  with  the  Heavenly 
Father  according  to  the  Christian  creed,  man  is  essentially 
devout. 

"There  are  honest  doubters  whose  sincerity  we  recognize  and 
respect,  but  occasionally  I  find  young  men  who  think  it  smart 
to  be  skeptical;  they  talk  as  if  it  were  an  evidence  of  larger 
intelligence  to  scoff  at  creeds  and  to  refuse  to  connect  them- 
selves with  churches.  They  call  themselves  'Liberal/  as  if  a 
Christian  were  narrow  minded.  Some  go  so  far  as  to  assert 
that  the  'advanced  thought  of  the  world'  has  discarded  the  idea 
that  there  is  a  God.  To  these  young  men  I  desire  to  address 
myself. 

"Religion  is  the  foundation  of  morality  in  the  individual  and 
in  the  group  of  individuals.  Materialists  have  attempted  to  build 
up  a  system  of  morality  upon  the  basis  of  enlightened  self- 
interest.  They  would  have  man  figure  out  by  mathematics  that 
it  pays  him  to  abstain  from  wrong-doing;  they  would  even  inject 
an  element  of  selfishness  into  altruism,  but  the  moral  system 
elaborated  by  the  materialists  has  several  defects. 

"First,  its  virtues  are  borrowed  from  moral  systems  based 
upon  religion.     Second,  as  it  rests  upon  argument  rather  than 


"THE  PRINCE  OF  PEACE"  257 

upon  authority,  the  young  are  not  in  a  position  to  accept  or 
reject.  Third,  one  never  knows  just  how  much  of  his  decision 
is  due  to  reason  and  how  much  is  due  to  passion  or  to  selfish 
interest.  And,  fourth,  one  whose  morality  rests  upon  a  nice 
calculation  of  benefits  to  be  secured  spends  time  figuring  that 
he  should  spend  in  action. 

"Morality  is  the  power  of  endurance  in  man;  and  a  religion 
which  teaches  personal  responsibility  to  God  gives  strength  to 
morality. 

"There  are  difficulties  to  be  encountered  in  religion,  but  there 
are  difficulties  to  be  encountered  everywhere.  If  Christians 
sometimes  have  doubts  and  fears,  unbelievers  have  more  doubts 
and  greater  fears.  I  passed  through  a  period  of  skepticism 
when  I  was  in  college,  and  I  have  been  glad  ever  since  that  I 
became  a  member  of  the  church  before  I  left  home  for  college, 
for  it  helped  me  during  those  trying  days. 

"It  was  at  this  period  that  I  became  confused  by  the  different 
theories  of  creation.  But  I  examined  these  theories  and  found 
that  they  all  assumed  something  to  begin  with.  Well,  I  have 
a  right  to  assume,  and  I  prefer  to  assume  a  Designer  back  of 
the  design — a  Creator  back  of  the  creation ;  and  no  matter  how 
long  you  draw  out  the  process  of  creation,  so  long  as  God  stands 
back  of  it  you  cannot  shake  my  faith  in  Jehovah.  We  must 
begin  with  something — we  must  start  somewhere — and  the 
Christian  begins  with  God. 

"I  do  not  carry  the  doctrine  of  evolution  as  far  as  some  do ; 
I  am  not  yet  convinced  that  man  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  the 
lower  animals.  I  do  not  mean  to  find  fault  with  you  if  you 
want  to  accept  the  theory;  all  I  mean  to  say  is  that  while  you 
may  trace  your  ancestry  back  to  the  morkey  if  you  find  pleasure 
or  pride  in  doing  so,  you  shall  not  connect  me  with  your  family 


258  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

tree  without  more  evidence  than  has  yet  been  produced.  I  object 
to  the  theory  for  several  reasons. 

"First,  it  is  a  dangerous  theory.  If  a  man  links  himself  in 
generations  with  the  monkey,  it  then  becomes  an  important 
question  whether  he  is  going  towards  him  or  coming  from  him 
— and  I  have  seen  them  going  in  both  directions.  The  mind  is 
greater  than  the  body  and  the  soul  is  greater  than  the  mind, 
and  I  object  to  having  man's  pedigree  traced  on  one-third  of 
him  only — and  that  the  lowest  third. 

"But  there  is  another  objection.  The  Darwinian  theory  repre- 
sents man  as  reaching  his  present  perfection  by  the  operation 
of  the  law  of  hate — the  merciless  law  by  which  the  strong  crowd 
out  and  kill  off  the  weak.  If  this  is  the  law  of  our  development 
then,  if  there  is  any  logic  that  can  bind  the  human  mind,  we 
shall  turn  backward  towards  the  beast  in  proportion  as  we 
substitute  the  law  of  love.  I  prefer  to  believe  that  love  rather 
than  hatred  is  the  law  of  development.  I  fear  that  some  have 
accepted  Darwin's  theory  in  the  hope  of  escaping  from  the 
miracle,  but  why,  my   friends,   should  the  miracle   frighten  us? 

"Christ  cannot  be  separated  from  the  miraculous;  His  birth, 
His  ministrations,  and  His  resurrection,  all  involve  the  miracu- 
lous, and  the  change  which  His  religion  works  in  the  human 
heart  is  a  continuing  miracle.  Eliminate  the  miracles  and  Christ 
becomes  merely  a  human  being  and  His  Gospel  is  stripped  of 
divine  authority. 

"The  miracle  raises  two  questions:  'Can  God  perform  a 
miracle ?'  and,  'Would  He  want  to?'  The  first  is  easy  to 
answer.  A  God  who  can  make  a  world  can  do  anything  He 
wants  to  do  with  it.  The  power  to  perform  miracles  is  neces- 
sarily implied  in  the  power  to  create.  But  would  God  want  to 
perform  a  miracle? — this  is  the  question  which  has  given  most 


"THE  PRINCE  OF  PEACE"  259 

of  the  trouble.    The  more  I  have  considered  it  the  less  inclined 

I  am  to  answer  in  the  negative.  To  say  that  God  would  not 
perform  a  miracle  is  to  assume  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of 
God's  plans  and  purposes  than  I  can  claim  to  have. 

"The  fact  that  we  are  constantly  learning  of  the  existence  of 
new  forces  suggests  the  possibility  that  God  may  operate 
through  forces  yet  unknown  to  us,  and  the  mysteries  with  which 
we  deal  every  day  warn  me  that  faith  is  as  necessary  as  sight. 
The  miracle  is  not  more  mysterious  than  many  of  the  things 
with  which  man  now  deals — it  is  simply  different.  The  miracu- 
lous birth  of  Christ  is  not  more  mysterious  than  any  other  con- 
ception— it  is  simply  unlike  it;  nor  is  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
more  mysterious  than  the  myriad  resurrections  which  mark  each 
annual  seed-time. 

"I  was  eating  a  piece  of  watermelon  some  months  ago  and 
was  struck  with  its  beauty.  I  took  some  of  the  seeds  and  dried 
them  and  weighed  them,  and  found  that  it  would  require  some 
five  thousand  seeds  to  weigh  a  pound ;  and  then  I  applied  mathe- 
matics to  that  forty-pound  melon.  One  of  these  seeds,  put  into 
the  ground,  when  warmed  by  the  sun  and  moistened  by  the 
rain,  takes  off  its  coat  and  goes  to  work ;  it  gathers  from  some- 
where two  hundred  thousand  times  its  own  weight,  and  forcing 
this  raw  material  through  a  tiny  stem,  constructs  a  watermelon. 
It  ornaments  the  outside  with  a  covering  of  green;  inside  the 
green  it  puts  a  layer  of  white,  and  within  the  white  a  core  of 
red,  and  all  through  the  red  it  scatters  seeds,  each  one  capable 
of  continuing  the  work  of  reproduction.  Where  does  that  little 
seed  get  its  tremendous  power?  Where  does  it  find  its  coloring 
matter?  How  does  it  collect  its  flavoring  extract?  How  does 
it  build  a  watermelon?  Until  you  can  explain  a  watermelon, 
do  not  be  too  sure  that  you  can  set  limits  to  the  power  of  the 
Almighty  and  say  just  what  He  would  do  or  how  He  would 


260  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

do  it.    I  cannot  explain  the  watermelon,  but  I  eat  it  and  enjoy  it. 

"Everything  that  grows  tells  a  like  story  of  infinite  power. 
Why  should  I  deny  that  a  Divine  hand  fed  a  multitude  with 
a  few  loaves  and  fishes  when  I  see  hundreds  of  millions  fed 
every  year  by  a  hand  which  converts  the  seeds  scattered  over 
the  field  into  an  abundant  harvest? 

"I  was  thinking  a  few  years  ago  of  the  Christmas  which  was 
then  approaching  and  of  Him  in  whose  honor  the  day  is  cele- 
brated. I  recalled  the  message,  Teace  on  earth,  good  will  to 
men/  and  then  my  thoughts  ran  back  to  the  prophecy  uttered 
centuries  before  His  birth,  in  which  He  was  described  as  the 
Prince  of  Peace. 

"I  have  thought  of  this  prophecy  many  times  during  the  last 
few  years,  and  I  have  selected  this  theme  that  I  might  present 
some  of  the  reasons  which  lead  me  to  believe  that  Christ  has 
fully  earned  the  right  to  be  called  The  Prince  of  Peace — a  title 
that  will  in  the  years  to  come  be  more  and  more  applied  to  Him. 

"All  the  world  is  in  search  of  peace;  every  heart  that  ever 
beat  has  sought  for  peace,  and  many  have  been  the  methods 
employed  to  secure  it.  Some  have  thought  to  purchase  it  with 
riches  and  have  labored  to  secure  wealth,  hoping  to  find  peace 
when  they  were  able  to  go  where  they  pleased  and  buy  what 
they  liked. 

"Some  have  sought  peace  in  social  distinction,  but  whether 
they  have  been  within  the  charmed  circle  and  fearful  lest  they 
might  fall  out,  or  outside,  and  hopeful  that  they  might  get  in, 
they  have  not  found  peace.  Some  have  thought,  vain  thought, 
to  find  peace  in  political  prominence;  but  whether  office  comes 
by  birth,  as  in  monarchies,  or  by  election,  as  in  republics,  it  does 
not  bring  peace. 

"I  am  glad  that  our  Heavenly  Father  did  not  make  the  peace 
of  the  human  heart  to  depend  upon  our  ability  to  buy  it  with 


"THE  PRINCE  OF  PEACE"  261 

money,  secure  it  in  society,  or  win  it  at  the  polls,  for  in  any 
case  but  few  could  have  obtained  it,  but  when  Pie  made  peace 
the  reward  of  a  conscience  void  of  offense  towards  God  and 
man,  He  put  it  within  the  reach  of  all. 

"To  those  who  have  grown  gray  in  the  Church,  I  need  not 
speak  of  the  peace  to  be  found  in  faith  in  God  and  trust  in  an 
over-ruling  Providence. 

"Christ  promoted  peace  by  giving  us  assurance  that  a  line  of 
communcation  can  be  established  between  the  Father  above 
and  the  child  below.  And  who  will  measure  the  consolations  of 
the  hour  of  prayer? 

"And  immortality !  Who  will  estimate  the  peace  which  a  be- 
lief in  a  future  life  has  brought  to  the  sorrowing  hearts  of  the 
sons  of  men? 

"Christ  gave  us  proof  of  immortality  and  it  was  a  welcome 
assurance,  although  it  would  hardly  seem  necessary  that  one 
should  rise  from  the  dead  to  convince  us  that  the  grave  is  not 
the  end.  To  every  created  thing  God  has  given  a  tongue  that 
proclaims  a  future  life. 

"If  the  Father  deigns  to  touch  with  Divine  power  the  cold 
and  pulseless  heart  of  the  buried  acorn  and  to  make  it  burst 
forth  from  its  prison  walls,  will  He  leave  neglected  in  the  earth 
the  soul  of  man,  made  in  the  image  of  his  Creator?  If  He  stoops 
to  give  to  the  rosebush,  whose  withered  blossoms  float  upon  the 
autumn  breeze,  the  sweet  assurance  of  another  springtime,  will 
He  refuse  the  words  of  hope  to  the  sons  of  men  when  the  frosts 
of  winter  come? 

"In  Cairo  I  secured  a  few  grains  of  wheat  that  had  slumbered 
for  more  than  thirty  centuries  in  an  Egyptian  tomb.  As  I  looked 
at  them  this  thought  came  into  my  mind :  If  one  of  those  grains 
had  been  planted  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  the  year  after  it  grew, 
and  all  its  lineal  descendants  had  been  planted  and  replanted 


262  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

from  that  time  until  now,  its  progeny  would  today  be  sufficiently 
numerous  to  feed  the  teeming  millions  of  the  world.  If  this 
invisible  germ  of  life  in  the  grain  of  wheat  can  thus  pass  un- 
impaired through  three  thousand  resurrections,  I  shall  not  doubt 
that  my  soul  has  power  to  clothe  itself  with  a  body  suited  to 
its  new  existence  when  this  earthly  frame  has  crumbled  into  dust. 

"A  belief  in  immortality  not  only  consoles  the  individual,  but 
it  exerts  a  powerful  influence  in  bringing  peace  between  in- 
dividuals. If  one  actually  thinks  that  man  dies  as  the  brute 
dies,  he  will  yield  more  easily  to  the  temptation  to  do  injustice 
to  his  neighbor  when  the  circumstances  are  such  as  to  promise 
security  from  detection.  But  if  one  really  expects  to  meet  again, 
and  live  eternally  with,  those  whom  he  knows  today,  he  is 
restrained  from  evil  deeds  by  the  fear  of  endless  remorse. 

"Again,  Christ  deserves  to  be  called  The  Prince  of  Peace  be- 
cause He  has  given  us  a  measure  of  greatness  which  promotes 
peace.  When  His  disciples  quarrelled  among  themselves  as  to 
which  should  be  greatest  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  He  rebuked 
them  and  said :  'Let  him  who  would  be  chiefest  among  you  be 
the  servant  of  all/ 

"Service  is  the  measure  of  greatness ;  it  always  has  been  true  ; 
it  is  true  today,  and  it  always  will  be  true,  that  he  is  greatest 
who  does  the  most  of  good.  Nearly  all  of  our  controversies  and 
combats  grow  out  of  the  fact  that  we  are  trying  to  get  some- 
thing from  each  other — there  will  be  peace  when  our  aim  is  to 
do  something  for  each  other.  The  human  measure  of  a  human 
life  is  its  income;  the  divine  measure  of  a  life  is  its  outgo,  its 
overflow — its  contribution  to  the  welfare  of  all. 

"Christ  also  led  the  way  to  peace  by  giving  us  a  formula  for 
the  propagation  of  truth.  Not  all  of  those  who  have  really  de- 
sired to  do  good  have  employed  the  Christian  method — not  all 
Christians  even.     In  the  history  of  the  human  race  but  two 


"THE  PRINCE  OF  PEACE"  263 

methods  have  been  used.    The  first  is  the  forcible  method,  and 
it  has  been  employed  most  frequently. 

"The  other  is  the  Bible  plan — 'Be  not  overcome  of  evil  but 
overcome  evil  with  good/  And  there  is  no  other  way  of  over- 
coming evil. 

"My  faith  in  the  future — and  I  have  faith — and  my  optimism — 
for  I  am  an  optimist — my  faith  and  my  optimism  rest  upon  the 
belief  that  Christ's  teachings  are  being  more  studied  today  than 
ever  before,  and  that  with  this  larger  study  will  come  a  larger 
application  of  those  teachings  to  the  every-day  life  of  the  world, 
and  to  the  questions  with  which  we  deal. 

"But  this  Prince  of  Peace  promises  not  only  peace  but 
strength.  Some  have  thought  His  teachings  fit  only  for  the  weak 
and  the  timid  and  unsuited  to  men  of  vigour,  energy  and  ambi- 
tion. Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  Only  the  man 
of  faith  can  be  courageous.  Confident  that  he  rights  on  the  side 
of  Jehovah,  he  doubts  not  the  success  of  his  cause. 

"What  would  have  been  the  fate  of  the  Church  if  the  early 
Christians  had  had  as  little  faith  as  many  of  our  Christians  of 
today?  And  if  the  Christians  of  today  had  the  faith  of  the 
martyrs,  how  long  would  it  be  before  the  fulfillment  of  the 
prophecy  that  'every  knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  confess?' 

"I  am  glad  that  He,  who  is  called  the  Prince  of  Peace — who 
can  bring  peace  to  every  troubled  heart  and  whose  teachings, 
exemplified  in  life,  will  bring  peace  between  man  and  man,  be- 
tween community  and  community,  between  State  and  State, 
between  nation  and  nation  throughout  the  world — I  am  glad 
that  He  brings  courage  as  well  as  peace  so  that  those  who  follow 
Him  may  take  up  and  each  day  bravely  do  the  duties  that  to 
that  day  fall. 

"As  the  Christian  grows  older  he  appreciates  more  and  more 
and  more  the  completeness  with  which  Christ  satisfies  the  long- 


264  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

ings  of  the  heart,  and,  grateful  for  the  peace  which  he  enjoys 
and  for  the  strength  which  he  has  received,  he  repeats  the  words 
of  the  great  scholar,  Sir  William  Jones : 

'Before  thy  mystic  altar,  heavenly  truth, 

I  kneel  in  manhood,  as  I  knelt  in  youth, 
Thus  let  me  kneel,  till  this  dull  form  decay, 

And  life's  last  shade  be  brightened  by  thy  ray.' " 


CHAPTER  XXI 


Conventions  of  1912  and  1916 

Wants  "True  Democrat" — Resolution  Against  Wall  Street  Startles 
Convention — Withdraws  Second  Clause  of  It — It  Passes — Mrs. 
Taft  in  Gallery — Changes  from  Clark  to  Wilson — Wilson  Wins — 
Bryan  Declines  Vice-Presidency  in  "Valedictory" — 1916  Conven- 
tion— Hides  in  Improvised  Chicken  Coop — Suspend  Rules  to 
Permit  Him  to  Talk — Praises  Wilson — Assails  Those  Advocating 
Intervention  in  Mexico — "Power  of  Christ"  Speech. 

The  most  spectacular  victory  William  Jennings  Bryan  ever  won, 
was  won,  ironically  enough,  for  another  man. 

The  scene  of  the  victory  was  the  Democratic  national  convention 
of  1912,  held  at  Baltimore.  It  was  here  that  Bryan  brought  about 
the  defeat  of  Champ  Clark,  then  speaker  of  the  House,  as  the 
presidential  nominee  and  secured  the  triumph  of  party  choice  for 
standard-bearer  for  Woodrow  Wilson,  then  governor  of  New  Jersey. 

A  few  months  before  the  convention  Bryan  announced  that  he 
would  not  be  a  candidate  but  that  he  was  "ready  to  enter  upon  a 
campaign  in  behalf  of  a  true  Democrat  with  even  more  vigor  than 
that  with  which  I  have  fought  at  any  time  in  my  own  behalf." 

That  "true  Democrat,"  Bryan  felt,  was  Woodrow  Wilson,  whose 
"progressive  policies"  had  already  attracted  the  interest  of  the  Com- 
moner. 

His  first  attack  on  the  "interests"  was  an  oratorical  bomb  fired 
into  Wall  street. 

On  the  eve  of  the  nomination  of  a  presidential  candidate,  on 
June  27,  Bryan  offered  his  famous  resolution  declaring  the  conven- 
tion's freedom  from  the  influence  of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  Thomas 
F.  Ryan  and  August  Belmont.  The  latter  two  occupied  seats  as 
delegates  on  the  floor  of  the  convention. 

265 


266  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

No  more  sensational  event,  it  is  said,  ever  took  place  in  a  national 
political  convention.  Bryan's  proposal  burst  like  a  bombshell  over 
the  2,000  delegates  and  alternates  and  the  thousands  of  visitors,  just 
as  the  body  was  settling  down  to  the  business  of  nominating 
speeches. 

Bryan  himself  appeared  on  the  platform  by  the  side  of  his  friend, 
Permanent  Chairman  Ollie  James,  and  amid  a  profound  silence 
read  the  resolution: 

"Resolved — That  in  this  crisis  in  our  party's  career,  and  in  our 
country's  history,  this  convention  sends  greeting  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  and  assures  them  that  the  party  of  Jefferson  and 
Jackson  is  still  the  champion  of  popular  government  and  equality 
before  the  law.  As  proof  of  our  fidelity  to  the  people  we  hereby 
declare  ourselves  opposed  to  the  nomination  of  any  candidate  for 
President  who  is  the  representative  of,  or  under  any  obligation  to, 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  Thomas  F.  Ryan,  August  Belmont,  or  any 
other  member  of  the  privilege-hunting  and  favor-seeking  class. 

"Be  it  further  resolved — That  we  demand  the  withdrawal  from 
this  convention  of  any  delegate  or  delegates  constituting  or  repre- 
senting the  above  named  interests." 

Then,  amid  the  astonished  silence  of  the  throng,  Bryan  began  his 
argument  for  the  resolution: 

"This  is  an  extraordinary  resolution,  but  extraordinary  condi- 
tions need  extraordinary  remedies,"  he  asserted.  "We  are  now 
engaged  in  the  conduct  of  a  convention  that  will  place  before  this 
country  the  Democratic  nominee,  and  I  assume  that  every  delegate 
in  this  convention  is  here  because  he  wants  that  nominee  elected. 

"And  it  is  in  order  that  we  may  advance  the  cause  of  our  candi- 
date that  I  present  this  resolution.  There  are  questions  of  which  a 
court  takes  judicial  notice,  and  there  are  subjects  upon  which  we 
can  assume  that  the  American  people  are  informed,  and  there  is 
not  a  delegate  in  this  convention  who  does  not  know  that  an  effort 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1912  AND  1916  267 

is  being  made  right  now  to  sell  the  Democratic  party  into  bondage 
to  the  predatory  interests  of  this  country. 

"It  is  the  most  brazen,  the  most  insolent,  the  most  impudent 
attempt  that  has  been  made  in  the  history  of  American  politics  to 
dominate  a  convention,  stifle  the  honest  sentiment  of  a  people  and 
make  the  nominee  the  bond  slave  of  the  men  who  exploit  the  people 
of  this  country. 

"I  need  not  tell  you  that  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  and  Thomas  F.  Ryan 
and  August  Belmont  are  three  of  the  men  who  are  connected  with 
the  great  money  trusts  of  this  country,  who  are  as  despotic  in  their 
rule  of  the  business  of  the  country  and  as  merciless  in  their  com- 
mand of  their  slaves  as  any  man  in  the  country. 

"Someone  has  said  that  we  have  no  right  to  discuss  the  dele- 
gates who  come  here  from  a  sovereign  state. 

"I  reply  that  if  these  men  are  willing  to  insult  6,500,000  Demo- 
crats we  ought  to  speak  out  against  them  and  let  them  know  we 
resent  the  insult. 

"I,  for  one,  am  not  willing  that  Thomas  F.  Ryan  and  August 
Belmont  shall  come  here  with  their  paid  attorneys  and  seek  secret 
counsel  with  the  managers  of  this  party.  No  sense  of  politeness 
or  courtesy  to  such  men  will  keep  me  from  protecting  my  party 
from  the  disgrace  that  they  inflict  upon  it. 

"Now,  my  friends,  I  cannot  speak  for  you.  You  have  your  own 
responsibility,  but  if  this  is  to  be  a  convention  run  by  these  men; 
if  our  nominee  is  to  be  their  representative  and  tool,  I  pray  you 
to  give  us,  who  represent  constituencies  that  do  not  want  this,  a 
chance  to  go  on  record  with  our  protest  against  it.  If  any  of  you 
are  willing  to  nominate  a  candidate  who  represents  these  men " 

Bryan  was  interrupted  by  prolonged  cheering  and  applause. 

Continuing,  he  said :  "Or  who  is  under  obligation  to  these  men, 
do  it  and  take  the  responsibility.  I  refuse  to  take  that  responsi- 
bility. 


268  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"Some  have  said  that  we  haven't  a  right  to  demand  the  with- 
drawal of  delegates  from  this  convention.  I  will  make  you  a  propo- 
sition. One  of  these  men  sits  with  New  York  and  the  other  sits 
with  Virginia.  I  make  you  this  proposition.  If  the  state  of  New 
York  will  take  a  poll  of  its  vote  and  a  majority  of  them — not  Mr. 
Murphy,  but  a  majority  of  the  delegates — I  repeat  that  if  New 
York  would,  on  roll  call,  where  her  delegates  can  have  their  names 
recorded  and  printed,  ask  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  name  of  Mr. 
Belmont,  and  if  Virginia  will  on  roll  call  protest  against  the  with- 
drawal of  Mr.  Ryan,  I  will  then  withdraw  the  last  part  of  the 
resolution. 

"In  answer  to  the  argument  that  this  resolution  should  not  be 
introduced  here  to  disturb  harmony,  I  commend  to  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  the  Bible  doctrine:  'If  thy  right  hand  offend  thee, 
cut  it  off/ 

"My  reputation  will  not  be  worth  defending  when  it  becomes 
necessary  to  defend  it  from  the  charges  of  a  friend  of  Thomas  F. 
Ryan.     I  now  withdraw " 

A  chorus  of  mingled  cheers  and  jeers  greeted  this  statement. 

"Vote,  vote,"  came  a  shout. 

" — And  I'm  sure  if  it's  worth  while  to  cut  off  the  right  hand  to 
save  the  body  it's  worth  cutting  off  Ryan  and  Belmont  and  Morgan 
to  save  the  Democratic  party." 

When  Bryan  came  down  from  the  platform  his  friend  and 
former  secretary,  Robert  F.  Rose,  tugged  at  his  coat  sleeve  and 
whispered,  "What  became  of  the  passage  about  Taft?" 

Bryan  turned  toward  one  corner  of  the  balcony  and  said,  "Why, 
didn't  you  see  that  Mrs.  Taft  was  in  the  gallery?" 

While  Bryan  had  been  talking  on  the  resolution  the  convention 
boiled  over.  From  Virginia,  the  state  which  had  sent  Ryan  as  a 
delegate,  and  from  New  York,  where  Belmont  sat,  came  angry 


Underwood   &  Underwood   photo. 


Scopes,  Father  and  Son — John  Thomas  Scopes   the  young  school  teacher 

defendant  in  the  trial  of  Tennessee's  anti-evolution  law,  standing  with 

his  father,  Thomas  Scopes,  who  attended  his  son's  trial  in  Dayton. 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1912  AND  1916  271 

demonstrations.  Ryan  and  Belmont,  however,  sat  silent,  im- 
perturbable. 

But  around  these  men  raged  a  storm  of  indignation  that  rapidly 
spread  to  surrounding  delegations,  and  soon  the  whole  hall  was 
plunged  into  an  unprecedented  roar. 

The  proposition  urging  the  withdrawal  of  Ryan  and  Belmont 
was  charged  with  being  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of  sovereign  states, 
and  then  the  boos  and  catcalls,  jeers  and  hisses,  were  mingled  with 
hand-clapping,  cheers  and  stamping  of  feet  such  as  set  a  record  for 
demonstrations. 

After  a  bitter  debate,  Bryan  withdrew  the  second  paragraph  of 
the  resolution,  the  one  with  the  teeth  in  it,  demanding  the  with- 
drawal from  the  convention  of  the  delegates  Ryan  and  Belmont. 
His  reason  for  this,  he  said  later,  was  that: 

"Many  of  our  Democrats  sincerely  objected  to  the  second  reso- 
lution on  the  ground  that  it  was  an  invasion  of  a  right  of  the  state, 
and  I  did  not  want  to  put  them  into  a  position  where  their  reasons 
for  voting  against  the  double  resolution  would  be  the  subject  of 
discussion. 

"Others  were  likely  to  use  it  as  an  excuse  for  voting  against 
the  first  part  of  the  resolution  and  I  thought  it  best  not  to  give 
them  that  excuse,  and  the  purpose  was  served  anyhow  in  a  con- 
demnation of  the  men  and  the  system  they  represent." 

The  roll  was  called  on  the  modified  resolution  amid  a  turbulence 
which  the  chairman  was  utterly  unable  to  quell.  Foes  of  Bryan, 
regarding  his  withdrawal  of  the  second  part  of  the  resolution  as  a 
boomerang,  all  voted  for  the  first  part.  So  the  resolution  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  889  to  196.  Two  did  not  vote  and  one  was 
absent. 

Among  the  889  delegates  who  voted  with  him  were  Ryan  and 
Belmont  themselves;  and  in  fact  the  entire  New  York  delegation 


272  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

which  cast  its  ballot,  apparently  in  a  sardonic  mood,  with  an  eye 
to  hurling  ridicule  at  the  Nebraskan. 

Senator  Reed  of  Kansas  City  put  in  nomination,  Champ  Clark. 

Ex-Judge  John  W.  Westcott  of  Camden,  N.  J.,  placed  Woodrow 
Wilson  in  nomination. 

On  the  first  ballot  Clark  got  440j^  votes  and  Wilson  received 
324.    Then  the  fight  began. 

Clark  led  for  27  ballots  and  once  had  a  clear  majority  of  nine. 
At  the  end  of  the  tenth  ballot,  when  the  New  York  delegation  cast 
its  90  votes  for  Clark  there  was  a  tumultuous  demonstration.  The 
Clark  men  paraded  around  the  hall,  led  by  Miss  Genevieve  Clark, 
the  candidate's  daughter.    The  cheering  lasted  23  minutes. 

The  high  spot,  oratorically,  of  the  balloting  was  when  Bryan 
changed  from  Clark,  for  whom  he  had  been  instructed,  to  Wilson. 
The  nub  of  his  speech  is  contained  in  the  following  paragraph 
from  it: 

"The  delegates  for  whom  I  speak  stand  ready  to  carry  out  the 
instructions  given,  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  were  given  and  upon 
the  conditions  under  which  they  were  given;  but  these  delegates 
will  not  participate  in  the  nomination  of  any  man  whose  nomination 
depends  upon  the  vote  of  the  New  York  delegation.  Speaking  for 
myself  and  those  who  join  me,  we,  therefore,  withhold  our  vote 
from  Mr.  Clark  as  long  as  New  York's  vote  is  recorded  for  him, 
and  I  hereby  notify  the  chairman  and  this  convention  that  I  desire 
recognition  to  withdraw  these  votes  from  any  candidates  to  whom 
New  York's  votes  are  thrown.  The  position  that  we  take  in  regard 
to  Mr.  Clark  we  will  take  in  regard  to  any  other  candidate  whose 
name  is  now,  or  may  come  before  the  convention.  We  shall  not 
be  parties  to  the  nomination  of  any  man,  no  matter  who  he  may 
be  or  from  what  section  of  the  country  he  comes,  who  will  not,  when 
elected,  be  absolutely  free  to  carry  out  the  anti-Morgan-Ryan-Bel- 
mont  resolution  and  make  his  administration  reflect  the  wishes  and 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1912  AND  1916  273 

hopes  of  those  who  believe  in  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people. 

"Now,  I  am  prepared  to  announce  my  vote,  with  the  under- 
standing that  I  stand  ready  to  withdraw  my  vote  from  the  candidate 
for  whom  I  now  cast  it  if  Mr.  Murphy  casts  the  ninety  votes  of 
New  York  for  him.  I  cast  my  vote  for  Nebraska's  second  choice — 
Governor  Wilson." 

Bryan's  determined  support  of  the  governor  of  New  Jersey 
turned  the  tide  in  the  bitter,  long-drawn-out  fight.  The  Nebraskan 
persisted  in  his  opposition  and  his  reiterated  pleas  against  the  "domi- 
nation of  the  party  by  Wall  street."  The  attack  finally  broke  up 
the  ranks  of  the  Clark  followers,  and  at  dawn,  finally,  the  conven- 
tion designated  Wilson  as  the  nominee. 

Then  there  was  talk  of  running  Bryan  as  Wilson's  team-mate. 

In  declining  to  allow  the  use  of  his  name  as  vice-presiden- 
tial candidate,  the  Peerless  Leader  delivered  what  he  called  his 
valedictory : 

"Mr.  Chairman  and  members  of  the  convention :  You  have  been 
so  generous  with  me  in  the  allowance  of  time  that  I  had  not  ex- 
pected to  transgress  upon  your  patience  again,  but  the  compliment 
that  has  been  paid  me  by  the  gentleman  from  the  District  of 
Columbia  justifies,  I  hope,  a  word  in  the  form  of  a  valedictory. 

"For  sixteen  years  I  have  been  a  fighting  man.  Performing 
what  I  regarded  as  a  public  duty,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  speak 
out  on  every  public  question  that  was  before  the  people  of  the 
nation  for  settlement,  and  I  have  not  hesitated  to  arouse  the  hos- 
tility and  the  enmity  of  individuals  where  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  do 
so  in  behalf  of  my  country. 

"I  have  never  advocated  a  man  without  gladness,  and  I  have 
never  opposed  a  man  except  in  sadness.  If  I  have  any  enemies 
in  this  country  those  who  are  my  enemies  had  a  monopoly  of  hatred. 
There  is  not  one  single  human  being  for  whom  I  feel  a  hatred. 


274  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"Nor  is  there  any  one  American  citizen  in  my  own  party,  or  in 
any  other,  that  I  would  oppose  for  anything,  except  I  believed  that 
in  not  opposing  him  I  was  surrendering  the  interests  of  my  country, 
which  I  hold  above  any  person. 

"I  recognize  that  a  man  who  fights  must  carry  scars  and  I 
decided  long  before  this  campaign  commenced  that  I  had  been  in  so 
many  battles  and  had  alienated  so  many,  that  my  party  ought  to 
have  the  leadership  of  one  who  had  not  thus  offended  and  who  thus 
might  lead  with  greater  hope  of  victory. 

"And  tonight  I  come  with  joy  to  surrender  into  the  hands  of 
the  one  chosen  by  this  convention  a  standard  which  I  carried  in 
three  campaigns,  and  I  challenge  my  enemies  to  declare  that  it 
has  ever  been  lowered  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  The  same  belief 
that  led  me  to  prefer  another  for  the  Presidency  rather  than  to  be 
a  candidate  myself  leads  me  to  prefer  another  for  second  place 
rather  than  to  be  a  candidate  myself. 

"It  is  not  because  the  Vice-Presidency  is  lower  in  importance 
than  the  Presidency  that  I  decline.  There  is  no  office  in  this  nation 
so  low  that  I  would  not  take  it  if  I  could  serve  my  country  by 
accepting  it. 

"I  believe  that  I  can  render  more  service  to  my  country  when  I 
have  not  the  embarrassment  of  a  nomination  and  have  not  the 
suspicion  of  a  selfish  interest — more  service  than  I  could  as  a  can- 
didate, and  your  candidates  will  not  be  more  active  in  this  cam- 
paign than  I  shall  be. 

"My  services  are  at  the  command  of  the  party,  and  I  feel  a  relief 
now  that  the  burden  of  leadership  is  transferred  to  other  shoulders." 

The  Republican  party  had  already  been  split  by  the  fight  be- 
tween Taft  and  Roosevelt  at  Chicago,  and  the  nomination  of  Roose- 
velt as  the  candidate  of  the  National  Progressive  party  followed 
soon  after  the  Baltimore  convention.  A  sweeping  victory  came  to 
Wilson  at  the  polls  and  so  it  was  that  William  Jennings  Bryan, 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1912  AND  1916  275 

thrice  defeated  for  President,  was  responsible  for  the  election  to  the 
position  of  chief  executive  of  Woodrow  Wilson. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  1913,  President  Wilson,  in  recognition  of 
the  tenacious  service  the  man  from  Nebraska  had  rendered  him  at 
the  convention  made  him  Secretary  of  State,  which  position  he  held 
until  he  resigned  on  June  8th,  1915. 

The  1916  convention  was  held  at  St.  Louis.  Bryan  went  as  a 
newspaper  correspondent.  But  he  was  projected  forward  into  im- 
portance by  the  will  and  the  insistence  of  the  crowd. 

At  one  time  when,  for  political  reasons,  Bryan  did  not  wish 
to  be  in  the  fore-ground  and  did  not  wish  to  make  a  speech  he 
had  to  go  to  the  officials  in  charge  of  the  seating  arrangements 
to  see  if  he  could  get  into  a  secluded  corner.  As  he  sat  in  his 
seat  in  the  press  stand  the  crowd  spied  him  and  stampeded  for 
him.  It  was  during  the  platform  fight  and  Bryan  did  not  want 
to  interfere  or  talk  at  that  time.  So  they  rigged  up  a  chicken  coop 
contrivance  for  him  under  the  press  stand.  Here  he  sat  and  re- 
ported the  proceedings  until  he  thought  it  was  "safe"  for  him  to 
emerge. 

But  he  did  make  one  speech  which  took  the  convention  by  storm. 
Under  a  suspension  of  rules  he  was  permitted  to  speak  after  the 
delegates  had  roared  their  approval.  Senator  James  introduced 
Bryan  as  "one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  world  and  America's 
greatest  Democrat." 

"We  are  here,"  Bryan  announced,  "to  begin  the  fight  of  1916. 
And  a  party  united  in  every  state  will  face  the  enemy. 

"Today  the  Democratic  party  is  able  successfully  to  defend 
every  action  of  the  administration.  Our  President,  our  Senate,  and 
our  House  are  responsible  for  the  greatest  constructive  program  the 
Republic  has  ever  known.  We  have  put  more  laws  of  importance 
to  the  people  on  the  statute  books  than  any  half  dozen  Republican 
administrations. 


276  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"No  President  since  Jackson  has  had  to  face  such  a  tremendous 
attack  on  the  part  of  predatory  wealth  as  Woodrow  Wilson. 
Attempts  were  made  to  start  a  panic  to  prevent  some  of  our  legisla- 
tion. The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  took  his  evidence  to  the  White 
House — not  to  Wall  street — and  the  panic  was  prevented. 

"The  currency  law  we  passed  has  broken  the  grip  of  Wall  street 
on  the  politics  of  the  United  States.  For  many  years  one  hundred 
men  in  Wall  street  have  had  the  power  to  swing  our  national  elec- 
tions as  they  pleased.  One  who  has  felt  their  power  must  be  par- 
doned if  he  rejoices  at  their  downfall. 

"Republicans  talked  of  regulating  monopoly.  But  the  regulators 
were  regulated  by  the  men  who  raised  Republican  campaign  funds. 
The  Democratic  party  laid  the  ax  to  the  root  of  the  tree  of  private 
monopoly. 

"The  Republicans  in  their  platform  lacked  the  courage  either 
to  admit  the  values  of  the  currency  law  or  to  denounce  it. 

"This  convention  is  not  controlled,  as  was  that  in  Chicago,  by 
the  experts  of  the  favor  seeking  corporations.  The  Republicans 
dare  not  attack  the  income  tax  law.  It  has  taken  the  burden  from 
the  bent  backs  of  the  poor  and  put  it  where  it  belongs.  We  dare  the 
Republicans  to  attack  it. 

"The  Republicans  talk  of  the  tariff.  It  is  merely  a  matter  of 
habit  with  them.  They  have  put  behind  the  tariff  question  so  much 
energy  that  the  tariff  agitation  runs  now  by  sheer  momentum.  Our 
tariff  law  is  the  best  the  country  has  ever  known. 

"Then  came  the  great  war  in  Europe.  Even  that  could  not 
bring  a  panic  in  the  United  States.  We  inherited  from  a  Republican 
administration  an  insurrection  in  Mexico.  In  the  State  Department 
is  a  telegram  from  Huerta  stating :  T  have  overthrown  the  govern- 
ment.'   The  Republicans  dare  not  attack  our  policy  towards  Mexico. 

"Ask  any  mother  and  she  will  thank  the  President  that  her  son 
has  not  been  sent  to  die  in  Mexico.    A  few  men  who  own  ranches 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1912  AND  1916  277 

and  mines  in  Mexico  are  anxious  to  use  American  soldiers  to  collect 
profit  on  their  Mexican  investments.  But  the  President  will  not  in- 
tervene.  If  he  did  they  would  demand  that  he  go  to  Panama. 

"I  have  differed  with  the  President  on  some  points  of  his  policy 
in  dealing  with  the  great  war,"  Bryan  continued,  "but  I  agree 
with  the  American  people  in  thanking  God  that  we  have  a  President 
who  has  kept — and  will  keep — us  out  of  war. 

"For  two  years  our  President  has  borne  a  burden  such  as  few 
men  have  ever  been  called  on  to  carry.  Then,  does  not  the  honor 
of  being  peacemaker  belong  to  this  President  and  to  the  party  which 
selected  him? 

"We  have  a  record  which  we  can  go  to  the  country  on  without 
fear  or  blush. 

"No  Democrat  can  be  without  pride  in  the  record  of  his  party. 
I  love  my  party  not  only  for  what  it  has  done,  but  for  what  it 
will  and  must  do  in  the  future. 

"Who  can  better  claim  the  honor  of  bringing  the  warring  nations 
to  peace  than  an  administration  which  has  already  made  treaties 
with  half  the  world  which  make  war  a  remote  possibility? 

"The  United  States  faces  the  greatest  opportunity  ever  offered 
a  nation  since  time  began.  And  what  party  shall  take  the  lead  in 
that  great  work  but  the  Democratic  party — the  party  which  puts  the 
brotherhood  of  man  as  only  next  to  the  fatherhood  of  God. 

"I  stand  with  the  Democrats  of  the  nation  in  declaring  that  we 
must  give  Woodrow  Wilson  a  chance  to  bring  the  world  to  peace." 

Let  us  close  this  consideration  of  Bryan's  part  in  the  St.  Louis 
convention  with  his  famous  "Power  of  Christ"  speech: 

"There  is  a  picture  which  has  attracted  attention  wherever  it 
has  been  seen — the  picture  of  Christ  before  Pilate.  Pilate  repre- 
sented the  power  of  the  Roman  government,  and  back  of  him  were 
the  legions  of  Rome.  Before  Pilate,  helpless,  unarmed,  stood  the 
Apostle  of  Love.     For  His  triumph,  they  nailed  Him  to  the  tree, 


278  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

and  those  who  stood  around  mocked  and  jeered  and  said,  'He  is 
dead!'    But  that,  instead  of  being  the  end,  was  only  the  beginning. 

"In  a  few  centuries  the  power  of  Caesar  was  gone  and  his  legions 
forgotten.  The  power  of  Christ,  however,  increased  until  hundreds, 
yes,  thousands  of  millions  of  people,  have  taken  His  name  with 
reverence  upon  their  lips;  millions  have  been  ready  to  die  rather 
than  surrender  the  faith  that  He  put  into  their  hearts.  He  has  be- 
come the  great  factor  of  all  history,  the  glowing  figure  of  all  time. 

"Today  Christ  and  Pilate  again  stand  face  to  face,  and  Force 
and  Love  are  again  striving  for  mastery  and  dominion.  The  old 
world  represented  force.  It  built  its  hope  of  peace  on  fear  and 
threats  of  violence.  Each  nation  attempted  to  terrorize  other  na- 
tions in  peace,  and  in  their  efforts  they  engendered  hatreds  that 
ended  in  war. 

"If  the  nations  now  at  war  had  spent  one-tenth  as  much  through 
trying  to  cultivate  friendship  as  they  have  spent  in  cultivating  hatred, 
there  would  be  no  war  in  Europe  today." 


CHAPTER  XXII 


Secretary  of  State 

Serves  At  Difficult  Period — Wilson  and  Bryan  Not  Always  in 
Agreement — The  Thirty  Treaties — "Nothing  Is  Final  Between 
Friends" — "They  Shall  Beat  Their  Swords  Into  Plowshares" — 
"A  Message  from  Bethlehem" — Controversy  with  Japan — Mexican 
Trouble — Grape  Juice — Reply  to  Criticism  of  His  Lecturing — 
Friction  with  the  President. 

Bryan  entered  into  his  duties  as  Secretary  of  State  on  March  5, 
1913.  It  was  generally  understood  that  President  Wilson  had  be- 
stowed the  portfolio  on  him  in  recognition  of  his  services  at 
Baltimore,  which  won  Wilson  the  Democratic  nomination  and  later 
the  Presidency. 

The  two  years  and  three  months  during  which  Bryan  held  this 
office  were  years  of  difficulty,  marked  by  international  unrest  which 
resulted  in  the  outbreak  of  the  great  war  in  Europe.  As  his  term 
in  office  grew  longer,  it  became  more  difficult,  as  the  position  of 
the  United  States  and  her  policy  toward  Germany  became  increas- 
ingly complicated.  The  trouble  with  Mexico  and  the  Japanese  alien 
land  controversy  in  California  were  affairs  that  required  delicate 
handling  and  they  caused  the  Secretary  of  State  added  anxiety. 

In  the  diplomatic  administration  of  these  questions,  it  early  be- 
came apparent  that  Bryan  and  the  President  often  did  not  think 
along  the  same  lines.  Their  aims  were  the  same,  but  their  methods 
differed.  Two  men  with  deeper  convictions  and  greater  tenacity 
of  purpose  in  carrying  out  those  convictions,  than  Bryan  and  Wil- 
son, scarcely  could  have  been  brought  together.  The  situation  was 
bound  some  day  to  end  as  it  did  in  June  of  1915,  when  Bryan  felt 
in  duty  bound  to  give  up  the  Secretaryship. 

The  office  of  Secretary  of  State  offered  Bryan  an  opportunity  to 

279 


280  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

put  into  practice  some  of  the  ideals  and  ideas  he  long  had  preached. 
On  his  entry  into  the  cabinet  he  at  once  began  to  negotiate  with 
foreign  powers  all  over  the  world,  to  make  treaties  of  peace  and 
arbitration.  He  secured  the  approval  of  the  President,  of  the  cab- 
inet, and  the  Foreign  Affairs  committee  of  the  Senate,  and  then 
laid  before  the  representatives  of  nearly  all  the  powers,  the  principles 
of  a  treaty  which  he  believed  would  go  far  toward  preventing  future 
wars. 

These  treaties  which  Bryan  proposed  depended  on  several  major 
tenets:  That  there  must  be  no  war  until  the  expiration  of  a  set 
period  for  investigation;  that  the  principle  of  investigation  must 
apply  to  all  disputes ;  that  a  permanent  board  of  inquiry  should  be 
maintained,  to  be  composed  of  five  members,  one  chosen  by  each 
side  from  among  its  own  citizens,  one  chosen  by  each  side  from  the 
citizens  of  the  other  country,  and  one  to  be  selected  by  agreement; 
that  the  aid  of  the  board  might  be  invoked  by  either  party  at  any 
time,  or  the  board  might  act  on  its  own  initiative;  and  lastly  that 
each  party  to  the  treaty,  once  the  investigation  was  concluded,  might 
act  independently  as  it  saw  fit. 

The  gist  of  the  treaty  provisions  may  be  drawn  from  the  text 
of  the  first  clause  in  Article  1  of  the  treaty  which  was  negotiated 
with  Great  Britain: 

"The  high  contracting  parties  agree  that  all  disputes  between 
them,  of  every  nature  whatsoever,  other  than  disputes  the  settle- 
ment of  which  is  provided  for  and  in  fact  achieved  under  the  exist- 
ing agreements  between  the  high  contracting  parties,  shall,  when 
diplomatic  methods  of  adjustment  have  failed,  be  referred  for  in- 
vestigation and  report  to  a  permanent  international  commission,  to 
be  constituted  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  next  succeeding 
article ;  and  they  agree  not  to  declare  war  or  begin  hostilities  during 
such  investigation  and  before  the  report  is  submitted." 

It  was  the  element  of  time  and  delay  on  which  Bryan  counted 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  281 

to  make  such  treaties  a  potent  factor  in  bringing  about  permanent 
peace  among  nations.  An  investigation  of  just  a  few  days  might 
have  prevented  the  World  War,  said  some  international  experts; 
and,  by  the  treaties,  Bryan  sought  to  put  such  a  buffer  of  time  and 
consideration,  between  countries  hostile  to  each  other  over  some 
matter  in  dispute. 

Nearly  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  through  Bryan's  negotiations, 
undertook  the  consideration  of  these  treaties,  and  before  Bryan 
had  been  long  in  office  he  had  concluded  treaties  with  the  following 
powers:  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  Spain,  Russia,  Greece, 
Sweden,  Norway,  Denmark,  Portugal,  Holland,  the  Argentine  Re- 
public, Ecuador,  China,  Paraguay,  Chile,  Brazil,  Uruguay,  Peru, 
Venezuela,  the  Dominican  Republic,  Switzerland,  Costa  Rica,  Persia, 
Bolivia,  Nicaragua,  Honduras,  Panama,  Guatemala,  and  Salvador, 
thirty  countries  in  all.  Germany  and  Japan  were  the  notable  ex- 
ceptions who  did  not  enter  into  such  a  compact  with  the  United 
States. 

With  a  characteristic  touch,  Bryan  sent  a  paperweight  to  each  of 
the  diplomats  who  had  signed  the  treaties  with  him.  It  was  of 
steel,  nickel  plated.  The  metal  was  from  melted  swords  and  the 
paperweight  was  in  the  form  of  a  plowshare.  On  the  beam  of 
the  plow  was  an  inscription  of  the  motto  which  Bryan  believed 
would  ultimately  lead  to  international  harmony:  "Nothing  is  final 
between  friends."  On  the  blade  of  the  plow  was  the  quotation 
from  Isaiah,  2 :4,  "They  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plowshares." 

And  on  Christmas  Day,  1914,  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps 
in  Washington  received  from  the  Secretary  of  State  a  booklet 
written  by  him,  entitled  "A  Message  from  Bethlehem."  In  it,  Bryan 
discussed  war  and  peace  and  the  thirty  treaties,  saying  : 

"It  is  believed  that  these  treaties  will  go  far  towards  making 
war  a  remote  possibility,  for  it  will  be  difficult  for  nations  to 
engage  in  war  after  a  year's  deliberation.    Diplomacy  is  the  art  of 


282  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

keeping  cool  and  the  period  provided  for  investigation  not  only  per- 
mits the  subsidence  of  passion  and  the  restoration  of  reason,  but  it 
gives  time  for  the  operation  of  that  public  opinion,  which  more 
and  more  condemns  the  use  of  force  and  exalts  the  processes  of 
reason.  Time  also  enables  impartial  judges  to  separate  questions  of 
fact  from  questions  of  honor — a  most  important  task,  since  the  line 
between  the  two  is  quite  sure  to  be  obscured  when  anger  and 
prejudice  are  aroused.  Instead  of  using  the  ultimatum,  we  are 
adopting  the  motto :  'Nothing  is  final  between  friends.' ' 

These  treaties  were  not  accomplished  without  some  criticism 
from  those  who  thought  them  a  weak  and  foolish  means  of  bringing 
about  peace.  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  one  of  their  most  outspoken 
critics.  He  asserted  that  the  navy  had  done  more  toward  peace 
than  all  the  treaties  ever  drawn  up,  and  he  declared  that  the  Bryan 
pacts  represented  as  "high  a  degree  of  fatuity  as  is  often  achieved 
in  these  matters." 

Bryan  made  reply  in  a  speech  at  Columbus,  Kan.,  saying : 

"It  has  been  said  that  these  treaties  are  little  treaties  and  harm- 
less because  they  do  not  bind.  Thank  God,  Roosevelt  does  not 
speak  for  the  American  people,  who  regard  our  treaty  obligations 
as  binding.  These  treaties  require  a  year's  investigation  before 
declaring  war.  A  leading  diplomat  has  said  that  a  week's  investi- 
gation would  have  averted  the  European  war.  Our  new  treaties 
will  cause  nations  to  act,  not  in  the  heat  of  wrath,  but  in  sober, 
good  judgment." 

During  the  controversy  with  Japan  over  the  anti-alien  land 
question  in  California,  Bryan  journeyed  to  the  coast  where  he 
worked  tirelessly  to  bring  about  a  satisfactory  settlement.  He  con- 
ferred with  the  governor  of  the  state  and  spoke  several  times  before 
the  state  legislature.  Relations  between  the  United  States  and 
Japan  were  somewhat  strained  during  the  period.  The  outcome  of 
the  controversy  was  the  drafting  and  passage  of  a  new  measure, 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  283 

known  as  the  Webb  bill.  It  modified  somewhat  the  restrictions 
against  the  Japanese,  but  even  then  did  not  entirely  satisfy  them, 
and  a  protest  was  evoked  from  Tokio. 

During  his  tenure  of  the  Secretaryship,  Bryan  was  a  great 
stickler  for  secrecy.  As  a  rule,  he  refused  to  give  out  the  slightest 
inkling  as  to  what  negotiations  were  going  on  with  foreign  powers 
until  the  whole  matter  had  been  concluded.  He  worked  untiringly 
on  the  details  of  the  questions  brought  before  him  rather  than 
entrust  them  to  his  subordinates. 

It  was  during  Bryan's  term  of  office  that  the  trouble  with 
Mexico  arose  over  an  insult  to  the  American  flag  and  the  refusal 
of  Huerta  to  fire  in  apology  a  salute  to  the  flag.  The  President 
dispatched  American  troops  to  Vera  Cruz,  which  was  captured  April 
12,  1914.  Later,  the  troops  and  warships  were  withdrawn,  Huerta 
was  deposed,  and  a  constitutional  government  set  up  under 
Carranza,  who  received  the  support  of  the  administration. 

Bryan's  home  life  in  Washington  won  the  respect  and  admi- 
ration of  officials  and  diplomats.  He  and  Mrs.  Bryan  were  fond  of 
entertaining,  and  gave  frequent  dinner  parties,  luncheons,  and 
garden  parties.  One  feature  of  the  Secretary's  entertainment 
caused  much  comment  when  he  first  announced  it.  Since  he  had 
been  opposed  to  intoxicating  drinks  all  his  life,  Bryan  declared 
when  he  first  reached  the  capital  that  nothing  except  grape  juice 
should  appear  on  his  table,  and  he  kept  his  word. 

Another  source  of  much  comment  was  Bryan's  continuance  of 
his  lecturing.  He  appeared  often  on  the  Chautauqua  circuit,  and 
his  absences  from  Washington  were  criticized.  But  he  did  not 
give  up  the  lectures.  In  reply,  he  declared  that  the  salary  of 
$12,000  he  received  as  a  cabinet  official  was  insufficient  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  office  and  that  he  was  forced  to  supplement  his 
income  by  his  usual  means.     In  a  statement  to  the  public  he  said : 

"I  am  glad  to  have  the  criticism  brought  to  my  attention.     I 


284  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

believe  in  criticism  of  public  officials.  Criticism  is  helpful.  If  a 
man  makes  a  mistake  criticism  enables  him  to  correct  it;  if  he  is 
unjustly  criticized  the  criticism  helps  him.  I  have  had  my  share 
of  criticism  since  I  have  been  in  public  life,  but  it  has  not  prevented 
my  doing  what  I  thought  proper  to  do. 

"In  devoting  a  part  of  my  vacation  to  lecturing  I  am  doing 
what  I  believe  to  be  proper,  and  I  have  no  fear  whatever  that  any 
unbiased  person  will  criticize  me  when  he  knows  the  facts. 

"For  seventeen  years  the  sources  of  my  income  have  been  writ- 
ing and  lecturing,  but  each  year  I  have  made  more  public  speeches 
without  compensation  and  where  I  have  paid  my  own  traveling 
expenses,  than  I  have  where  compensation  was  received.  My  earn- 
ing capacity  has  been  large,  and  I  have  made  not  only  an  income 
sufficient  for  my  immediate  needs  but  have  saved  on  an  average 
something  more  than  $10,000  a  year. 

"In  accepting  the  office  which  I  now  hold  I  gave  up  the  op- 
portunity to  add  to  my  accumulations,  for  I  do  not  expect  to 
increase  during  my  term  the  amount  I  have  laid  aside — that  is,  I 
am  willing  to  forego  whatever  advantage  I  might  derive  from  the 
acquiring  of  $40,000  more,  for  the  privilege  of  serving  the  country 
in  this  office  during  the  coming  four  years.  I  will  do  more  if 
necessary,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  fair  minded  people  will  ask  it 
of  me. 

"Therefore,  until  I  see  some  reason  for  changing  my  purpose, 
I  expect  to  lecture  enough  to  bring  my  income  up  to  my  expenses, 
these  lectures  to  be  delivered  during  the  time  that  other  officials 
give  to  their  vacations.  In  addition  to  supplementing  my  salary,  I 
hope  that  my  lectures  do  good — people  who  attend  them  would  not 
do  so  if  they  did  not  think  they  received  their  money's  worth — 
but  I  would  be  glad  to  spend  my  vacations  resting  instead  of 
lecturing  if  I  could  do  so  without  eating  in  upon  the  amount  that 
I  have  laid  away  as  a  protection  against  old  age. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  285 

"The  number  of  whole  week  days  which  have  been  used  for  the 
lectures  is,  according  to  my  recollection,  seven.  The  rest  of  the 
lectures  have  been  delivered  at  places  near  enough  to  the  capital 
to  leave  in  the  afternoon,  sometimes  as  late  as  3 :08  o'clock.  I  would 
not  assume  that  the  public  was  interested  in  these  details,  were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  the  representatives  of  a  few  newspapers  have 
regarded  it  as  a  matter  of  great  importance." 

When  Mr.  Bryan  was  asked  if  he  would  lecture  any  more 
during  his  connection  with  the  State  Department,  he  replied : 

"I  expect  to  lecture  whenever  I  deem  it  desirable  or  necessary 
to  do  so  and  I  have  not  in  the  least  altered  the  plans  which  were 
made  at  the  time  I  assumed  the  duties  of  the  office.  The  criticism 
that  has  been  directed  against  my  lecturing  is  no  more  bitter  than 
the  criticism  I  have  undergone  at  other  times  and  for  other  things 
during  my  connection  with  politics. 

"A  part  of  this  criticism  is  malicious,  a  part  of  it  is  partisan, 
and  a  part  of  it  is  based  upon  misinformation.  That  which  is 
malicious  will  answer  itself,  that  which  is  partisan  will  be  accepted 
as  such,  that  which  is  based  upon  misinformation  will  cease  when 
the  critics  are  better  informed. 

"No  man  should  enter  public  life  if  he  objects  to  criticism,  and 
he  cannot  stay  in  public  life  if  he  permits  criticisms  to  turn  him 
from  doing  what  he  thinks  is  right.  He  must  decide  his  duty  for 
himself  and  is  answerable  to  the  public  for  any  mistakes  he  makes. 
I  regard  lecturing  as  an  entirely  legitimate  field.  I  lectured  before 
I  was  nominated  for  the  Presidency;  I  lectured  between  cam- 
paigns ;  I  shall  continue  to  lecture,  and  I  shall  not  believe  that  any 
person  whose  opinion  is  worth  having  will  think  the  less  of  me 
because  I  do  so.     This  closes  the  lecture  subject  for  the  present." 

In  a  review  of  Bryan's  career  as  Secretary  of  State,  it  is 
certain  that  his  peace  treaties  are  the  most  outstanding  accomplish- 
ment.     Since   their   negotiation,   other  nations   have  adopted   the 


286  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

principles  contained  in  them,  and  England  has  entered  into  a  similar 
treaty  with  Brazil,  Sweden  with  Chile,  and  Switzerland  with  Ger- 
many. A  report  of  the  Hague  tribunal  on  a  plan  for  the  peaceful 
settlement  of  international  disputes,  prominently  mentions  the 
"Bryan  treaties."  It  was  the  same  principle  of  a  delay  for  the 
purpose  of  inquiry  that  formed  the  heart  of  the  league  of  nations 
platform,  and  the  Four-Power  treaty  covering  disputes  in  the 
Pacific  is  built  on  the  lines  of  the  Bryan  treaty  plan. 

Even  with  all  this  taken  into  consideration,  it  is  probably  just, 
to  say  that  Bryan  did  not  fit  well  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State.  He  was  temperamentally  unsuited  to  the  duties,  and  he  was 
unfortunate  enough  to  serve  under  a  man  whose  convictions  were 
as  tenaciously  adhered  to  as  he  held  to  his  own.  This  meant  that 
both  men,  instead  of  being  able  to  pool  their  efforts  harmoniously 
toward  a  common  purpose,  were  constantly  having  to  curb  their 
own  wishes  out  of  deference  to  each  other. 

Bryan  and  Wilson  disagreed  early  on  the  matter  of  appoint- 
ments, Bryan  insisting  much  more  strongly  than  his  chief  that  offices 
should  preferably  be  given  to  those  who  had  served  the  Democratic 
party  faithfully  and  without  a  break  from  1896,  on.  Bryan  was 
much  more  insistent  than  the  President  that  support  of  nominees 
should  depend  largely  on  whether  their  principles  coincided  with 
his.  The  two  also  differed  on  their  party  platform.  Bryan  wrote 
the  plank  favoring  a  single  presidential  term;  Wilson  did  not  ap- 
prove of  it.  Bryan  wrote  the  plank  favoring  the  abolition  of  tolls 
on  American  ships  passing  through  the  Panama  canal.  Wilson 
disapproval  of  that  plank,  and  obtained  the  passage  of  a  law  which 
levied  tolls  on  American  ships.  To  Bryan's  credit,  he  gave  up  his 
own  position  and  supported  the  President  in  the  tolls  fight  with  all 
-  his  power. 

It  was  felt  at  the  time  that  had  it  not  been  'for  Bryan,  who 
declared    he    would    stand    for    peace    until    the    bitter    end,    the 


©  P.    &   A.    photo. 

Preparing   for   Battle — A   character   study   of  the   defender   of  revealed 

religion,  reading  up  preparatory  to  the  Scopes  trial.    Taken  on  the  lawn 

of  the  Rogers  house,  Dayton,  Tenn. 


P.   &  A.   photo. 
A  Characteristic  Pose — Bryan's  smile  was  known  to  millions. 


©  Underwood   &   Underwood    photo. 


Rulers  of   Dayton   Courtroom — Judge   John   T.   Raulston,   presiding  at 
Scopes    trial,     Sheriff     R.     B.     Harris,     and     Captain     Perkins    of    the 

Chattanooga  police. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  289 

Mexican  situation  might  have  been  summarily  settled.  It  was  felt 
that  instead  of  withdrawing  the  troops  from  Vera  Cruz,  the  Presi- 
dent might  have  sent  more  to  aid  them,  and  in  a  short,  sharp  in- 
vasion have  decided  the  Mexican  question  once  and  for  all. 

From  the  first,   Bryan's  secretaryship  was  doomed   to  end   in 
discord;  it  finally  reached  the  breaking  point  in  May  of  1915. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


Resignation  from  the  Cabinet 

Disagreement  with  Wilson  Over  Attitude  Toward  Germany — Signs 
First  Lusitania  Note — Cannot  Sign  Second — Conference  with  the 
President — Resigns — Text  of  Letter  and  Wilson's  Reply — Pleads 
for  World  Friendship — Criticism  of  His  Action — Break  with  Wil- 
son Never  Healed. 

Increasingly  irreconcilable  differences  over  the  policy  of  the 
United  States  toward  Germany,  before  the  entry  of  America  into  the 
war,  culminating  in  a  disagreement  over  the  second  Lusitania  note, 
brought  about  a  breach  between  Bryan  and  President  Wilson  which 
never  again  was  closed.  Bryan  resigned  his  portfolio  as  Secretary 
of  State  on  June  8,  1915. 

Both  men  were  working  with  the  same  end  in  view — to  keep  the 
United  States  out  of  the  World  War.  But  they  believed  in,  and 
followed,  different  sets  of  principles.  Bryan,  true  to  the  policy 
which  he  used  in  making  the  treaties  of  arbitration,  held  forth  for 
the  soft  and  diplomatic  answer.  Wilson  believed  in  strong  language 
and  insistent  terms. 

Germany  had  been  the  one  great  power  who  had  refused  to  sign 
a  treaty  of  arbitration  with  the  United  States.  But  a  short  time 
before,  she  had  intimated  that  she  might  be  willing  to  negotiate  for 
one,  and  Bryan  believed  that  she  should  be  given  the  opportunity, 
even  though  she  was  then  at  war,  and  the  United  States  had  de- 
clared for  neutrality. 

The  Lusitania,  with  citizens  of  the  United  States  on  board,  was 
sunk  without  warning  by  a  German  U-boat  on  May  1,  1915.  On 
May  13  the  first  protest  was  sent  to  Germany.  The  note  was  polite 
and  almost  friendly,  but  it  insisted  on  the  right  of  American  citizens 
to  travel  the  high  seas  in  safety,  and  it  demanded  that  ships  carrying 

290 


RESIGNATION  FROM  THE  CABINET  291 

citizens  of  non-combatant  nations  must  be  hailed  and  the  safety 
of  such  citizens  assured,  before  action  was  taken  to  capture  or  sink 
the  ship. 

Though  he  did  not  fully  agree  with  all  that  was  contained  in 
the  first  note,  Bryan  signed  it.  He  felt  that  its  demands  were  so 
strongly  phrased  that  nothing  but  still  stronger  demands,  instead  of 
understanding,  could  come  out  of  them.  But  President  Wilson  was 
determined  on  his  policy.  The  country,  of  course,  was  in  a  turmoil 
of  indignation  at  the  Lusitania  disaster.  There  were  insistent  cries 
for  war.  The  President,  in  an  interview  with  Count  von  BernstorfT, 
acquainted  the  German  ambassador  with  the  uncompromising  stand 
that  America  would  take.  In  language  unmistakable  and  many  times 
more  forceful  than  was  contained  in  the  note,  he  informed  von 
BernstorfT  that  there  would  be  no  discussion  of  any  particular  case 
until  Germany  had  admitted  the  right  of  neutrals  to  ride  on  pas- 
senger ships,  on  peaceful  missions,  without  being  subject  to  attack 
without  warning  by  German  submarines. 

The  second  Lusitania  note  was  in  preparation  at  this  time,  and 
Bryan  could  not  approve  of  it.  He  knew  not  only  what  was  patently 
in  it,  but  he  knew  also,  through  the  von  BernstorfT  conversation, 
what  was  back  of  it  in  the  President's  mind.  At  the  cabinet  meet- 
ing of  June  4  to  consider  the  second  note,  it  was  evident  that  there 
was  about  to  be  a  break  between  these  two  determined  men.  Bryan 
still  counseled  soft  words  and  arbitration,  but  he  was  disappointed 
to  find  that  his  arguments  made  no  impression.  The  note  drafted 
in  the  State  Department  and  submitted  by  him  was  inadequate,  he 
was  informed,  and  the  changes  that  were  to  be  made  in  it  were 
freely  discussed. 

Both  Bryan  and  Wilson  realized  then  that  a  parting  of  the  ways 
was  imminent,  though  both  held  to  the  last  a  hope  that  such  a 
catastrophe  might  be  averted.  Through  the  nights,  Bryan  walked 
the  floor  of  his  bedroom,  wrestling  with  the  problem.     Character- 


292  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

istically,  he  could  find  in  the  end  no  compromise  between  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  right  thing  to  do  and  a  course  that  he  foresaw 
was  bound  to  lead  the  United  States  into  the  war. 

A  cabinet  meeting  was  summoned  for  June  8  to  consider  a 
second  draft  of  the  note.  Knowing  that  there  was  no  chance  for 
him  to  alter  the  President's  decision,  Bryan  did  not  plan  to  attend. 
He  was  called  to  the  White  House  by  telephone.  Before  the  cabinet 
met,  Bryan  and  Wilson  held  a  long  conference.  The  two  men  were 
in  the  President's  office  for  an  hour.  Finally  Mr.  Wilson  pressed 
a  button  and  summoned  an  old  Negro  servant.  Wilson  was,  as 
usual,  unruffled  and  silent;  Bryan  was  nervous  and  talkative. 

"Mr.  Bryan  would  like  a  glass  of  water,"  the  President  told  the 
old  darkey.  The  servant  brought  it  and  handed  it  to  Bryan.  As 
Bryan  took  the  glass  and  raised  it  to  his  lips,  his  hand  trembled 
so  violently  that  part  of  the  water  was  spilled. 

There  was  no  question  then  of  what  the  outcome  would  be. 
At  the  cabinet  meeting  Bryan  sat  apart  and  did  not  enter  into  the 
discussion.  At  five  o'clock  that  night  his  resignation  was  announced. 
In  his  letter  to  the  President,  he  said : 

"My  dear  Mr.  President:  It  is  with  sincere  regret  that  I  have 
reached  the  conclusion  that  I  should  return  to  you  the  commission 
of  Secretary  of  State  with  which  you  honored  me  at  the  beginning 
of  your  administration. 

"Obedient  to  your  sense  of  duty  and  actuated  by  the  highest 
motives,  you  have  prepared  for  transmission  to  the  German  govern- 
ment a  note  in  which  I  can  not  join  without  violating  what  I  deem 
to  be  an  obligation  to  my  country,  and  the  issue  involved  is  of  such 
moment  that  to  remain  a  member  of  your  cabinet  would  be  as 
unfair  to  you  as  it  would  be  to  the  cause  which  is  nearest  my  heart, 
namely,  the  prevention  of  war. 

"Alike  desirous  of  reaching  a  peaceful  solution  arising  out  of 


RESIGNATION  FROM  THE  CABINET  293 

the  use  of  submarines  against  merchantmen,  we  find  ourselves  differ- 
ing irreconcilably  as  to  the  methods  which  should  be  employed. 

"It  falls  to  your  lot  to  speak  officially  for  the  nation ;  I  consider 
it  to  be  none  the  less  nr  duty  to  endeavor,  as  a  private  citizen,  to 
promote  the  ends  which  you  have  in  view  by  means  which  you  do 
not  feel  at  liberty  to  use. 

"In  severing  the  intimate  and  pleasant  relations  which  have 
existed  between  us  during  the  last  two  years,  permit  me  to  acknowl- 
edge the  profound  satisfaction  which  it  has  given  me  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  you  in  the  important  work  which  has  come  before  the 
State  Department,  and  to  thank  you  for  the  courtesies  extended. 

"With  the  heartiest  good  wishes  for  your  personal  welfare  and 
for  the  success  of  your  administration,  I  am,  my  dear  President, 

"Very  truly  yours, 

"W.  J.  BRYAN." 

In  discussing  the  momentous  step  he  had  taken,  Bryan  paid 
high  tribute  to  President  Wilson. 

"We  are  on  the  same  side  so  far  as  I  know,"  he  told  questioners, 
"and  this  action  of  mine  concerns  only  a  difference  of  method  in 
handling  the  German  question.  This  difference,  and  the  reasons 
therefor,  I  shall  attempt  to  explain  in  simple  language  as  soon  as 
the  note  is  sent,  at  which  time  I  will  cease  to  be  Secretary  of  State. 

"I  do  not  see  how  the  President,  with  his  convictions,  could  have 
done  other  than  he  is  doing.  And  I  could  not  do  otherwise.  A 
man  can  only  do  what  he  believes  to  be  right.  We  part  official 
company  the  best  of  friends." 

In  his  reply  accepting  Bryan's  resignation  President  Wilson 
wrote : 

"My  dear  Mr.  Bryan:  I  accept  your  resignation  only  because 
you  insist  on  its  acceptance;  and  I  accept  it  with  much  more  than 
deep  regret,  with  a  feeling  of  personal  sorrow.  Our  twenty  years 
of  close  association  have  been  very  delightful  to  me. 


294  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"Our  judgments  have  accorded  in  practically  every  matter  of 
official  duty  and  of  public  policy  until  now;  your  support  of  the 
work  and  purposes  of  the  administration  has  been  generous  and 
loyal  beyond  praise;  your  eagerness  to  take  advantage  of  every 
great  opportunity  for  service  it  offered  has  been  an  example  to  the 
rest  of  us ;  you  have  earned  our  affectionate  admiration  and  friend- 
ship. Even  now  we  are  not  separated  in  the  object  we  seek,  but 
only  in  the  method  by  which  we  seek  it. 

"It  is  for  these  reasons  my  feeling  about  your  retirement  from 
the  Secretaryship  of  State  goes  so  much  deeper  than  regret.  I  sin- 
cerely deplore  it.  Our  objects  are  the  same  and  we  ought  to  pursue 
them  together.  I  yield  to  your  desire  only  because  I  must,  and 
wish  to  bid  you  Godspeed  in  the  parting.  We  shall  continue  to 
work  for  the  same  causes,  even  when  we  do  not  work  in  the  same 
way. 

"With  affectionate  regard,  sincerely  yours, 

"WOODROW  WILSON." 

A  storm  of  criticism  descended  on  Bryan  for  his  act.  The  press 
of  the  country,  for  the  majority,  condemned  him  for  deserting  when 
the  ship  was  weathering  a  gale.  Others,  realizing  his  sincerity  and 
knowing  the  strict  bounds  of  conscience  by  which  he  limited  his 
acts,  were  more  lenient.  Many  felt  that  he  had  acted  not  only 
honestly,  but  wisely,  by  quitting  in  time,  when  he  learned  that  not 
only  was  he  in  opposition  to  the  sentiments  of  the  President,  but 
to  the  sentiments  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,  as  well. 

Subsequent  to  his  resignation,  Bryan  issued  several  statements 
explaining  his  attitude  in  the  matter.  One  of  these  was  directed 
toward  clarifying  the  matter  of  the  wording  of  the  note  over  which 
the  rupture  took  place.  Bryan  had  written  his  resignation  after 
viewing  the  second  draft  of  the  Lusitania  note.  Before  he  had  time 
to  hand  his  resignation  to  the  President,  the  note  had  been  altered 
and  its  terms  softened.     But  Bryan  explained  that  the  change  was 


RESIGNATION  FROM  THE  CABINET  295 

not  sufficient  to  justify  him  in  withdrawing  his  resignation.  He 
had  seen  the  altered  draft,  he  said,  and  might  have  changed  his 
mind  had  he  so  desired. 

Another  statement  explained  that  he  and  President  Wilson  had 
broken  over  two  principles ;  first,  on  the  suggestion  of  investigation 
by  an  international  commission;  and  second,  as  to  a  warning  to 
Americans  not  to  travel  on  belligerent  vessels,  or  ships  bearing 
cargoes  of  ammunition. 

A  third  letter  to  the  public  was  a  plea  for  world  peace  through 
international  friendship.  With  the  most  disastrous  war  in  history 
going  on  in  Europe  and  with  the  United  States  daily  becoming  more 
and  more  closely  enmeshed,  Bryan  was  not  afraid  to  come  out  with 
a  suggestion  that  it  was  time  swords  should  be  beaten  into  plow- 
shares. No  one  ever  accused  him  of  lack  of  courage  in  his  con- 
victions. 

"You  now  have  before  you  the  text  of  the  note  to  Germany — 
the  note  which  it  would  have  been  my  official  duty  to  sign  had  I 
remained  Secretary  of  State,"  he  declared.  "I  ask  you  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  my  decision  to  resign  rather  than  to  share  responsi- 
bility for  it. 

"I  am  sure  you  will  credit  me  with  honorable  motives,  but  that 
is  not  enough.  Good  intentions  could  not  atone  for  a  mistake  at 
such  a  time,  on  such  a  subject,  and  under  such  circumstances. 

"If  your  verdict  is  against  me,  I  ask  no  mercy;  I  desire  none, 
if  I  have  acted  unwisely.  A  man  in  public  life  must  act  according 
to  his  conscience,  but  however  conscientiously  he  acts  he  must  be 
prepared  to  accept  without  complaint  any  condemnation  which  his 
own  errors  may  bring  upon  him;  he  must  be  willing  to  bear  any 
deserved  punishment,  from  ostracism  to  execution.  But  hear  me 
before  you  pass  sentence. 

"The  President  and  I  agree  in  purpose;  we  desire  a  peaceful 
solution  of  the  dispute  which  has  arisen  between  the  United  States 


296  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

and  Germany.  We  not  only  desire  it,  but  with  equal  fervor  we 
pray  for  it,  but  we  differ  irreconcilably  as  to  the  means  of  secur- 
ing it. 

"If  it  were  merely  a  personal  difference  it  would  be  a  matter  of 
little  moment,  for  all  the  presumptions  are  on  his  side — the  pre- 
sumptions that  go  with  power  and  authority.  He  is  your  President. 
I  am  a  private  citizen  without  office  or  title — but  one  of  the  hun- 
dred million  of  inhabitants. 

"But  the  real  issue  is  not  between  persons;  it  is  between  s> stems, 
and  I  rely  for  vindication  wholly  upon  strength  of  the  position 
taken. 

"Among  the  influences  which  governments  employ  in  dealing 
with  each  other  there  are  two  which  are  pre-eminent  and  antagonistic 
— force  and  persuasion.  Force  speaks  with  firmness  and  acts 
through  the  ultimatum ;  persuasion  employs  argument,  courts  in- 
vestigation, and  depends  upon  negotiation.  Force  represents  the  old 
system — the  system  that  must  pass  away.  Persuasion  represents 
the  new  system — the  system  that  has  been  growing,  all  too  slowly, 
it  is  true,  but  growing  for  nineteen  hundred  years. 

"In  the  old  system,  war  is  the  chief  corner  stone — war,  which 
at  its  best  is  little  better  than  war  at  its  worst;  the  new  system 
contemplates  a  universal  brotherhood  established  through  the  up- 
lifting power  of  example. 

"If  I  correctly  interpret  the  note  to  Germany  it  conforms  to  the 
standards  of  the  old  system  rather  than  to  the  rules  of  the  new, 
and  I  cheerfully  admit  that  it  is  abundantly  supported  by  precedents 
— precedents  written  in  characters  of  blood  upon  almost  every  page 
of  human  history.  Austria  furnishes  the  most  recent  precedent; 
it  was  Austria's  firmness  that  dictated  the  ultimatum  against  Serbia 
which  set  the  world  at  war. 

"Every  ruler  now  participating  in  this  unparalleled  conflict  has 
proclaimed  his  desire  for  peace  and  denied  responsibility  for  the 


RESIGNATION  FROM  THE  CABINET  297 

war,  and  it  is  only  charitable  that  we  should  credit  all  of  them  with 
good  faith. 

"They  desired  peace,  but  they  sought  it  according  to  the  rules 
of  the  old  system.  They  believed  that  firmness  would  give  the  best 
assurance  of  the  maintenance  of  peace,  and,  faithfully  following 
precedent,  they  went  so  near  the  whirlpool  that  they  were  one  after 
another  sucked  into  the  contest. 

"Never  before  have  the  frightful  follies  of  this  fatal  system 
been  so  clearly  revealed  as  now.  The  most  civilized  and  enlightened 
— aye,  the  most  Christian — of  the  nations  of  Europe  are  grappling 
with  each  other  as  if  in  a  death  struggle.  They  are  sacrificing  the 
best  and  bravest  of  their  sons  on  the  battlefield ;  they  are  converting 
their  gardens  into  cemeteries  and  their  homes  into  houses  of  mourn- 
ing; they  are  taxing  the  wealth  of  today  and  laying  a  burden  of 
debt  on  the  toil  of  the  future ;  they  have  filled  the  air  with  thunder- 
bolts more  deadly  than  those  of  Jove,  and  they  have  multiplied  the 
perils  of  the  deep. 

"Adding  fresh  fuel  to  the  flame  of  hate,  they  have  daily  devised 
new  horrors,  until  one  side  is  endeavoring  to  drown  non-combatant 
men,  women,  and  children  at  sea  while  the  other  side  seeks  to  de- 
stroy non-combatant  men,  women,  and  children  on  land. 

"And  they  are  so  absorbed  in  alien  retaliations  and  in  competitive 
cruelty  +hat  they  seem,  for  the  time  being,  blind  to  the  rights  of 
neutrals  and  deaf  to  the  appeals  of  humanity.  A  tree  is  known  by 
its  fruit.    The  war  in  Europe  is  the  ripened  fruit  of  the  old  system. 

"This  is  what  firmness,  supported  by  force,  has  done  in  the  old 
world.  Shall  we  invite  it  to  cross  the  Atlantic?  Already  the  jingoes 
of  our  own  country  have  caught  the  rabies  from  the  dogs  of  war. 
Shall  the  opponents  of  organized  slaughter  be  silent  while  the  dis- 
ease spreads? 

"As  a  humble  follower  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  as  a  devoted 
believer  in  the  prophecy  that,  They  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish 


298  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

with  the  sword,'  I  beg  to  be  counted  among  those  who  earnestly 
urge  the  adoption  of  a  course  in  this  matter  which  will  leave  no 
doubt  of  our  government's  willingness  to  continue  negotiations  with 
Germany  until  an  amicable  understanding  is  reached,  or  at  least 
until,  the  stress  of  war  over,  we  can  appeal  from  Philip,  drunk  with 
carnage,  to  Philip,  sobered  by  the  memories  of  an  historic  friendship 
and  by  a  recollection  of  the  innumerable  ties  of  kinship  that  bind 
the  fatherland  to  the  United  States. 

"Some  nation  must  lead  the  world  out  of  the  black  night  of  war 
into  the  light  of  that  day  when  'swords  shall  be  beaten  into  plow- 
shares.' Why  not  make  that  honor  ours?  Some  day — why  not 
now? — the  nations  will  learn  that  enduring  peace  can  not  be  built 
upon  fear — that  good  will  does  not  grow  upon  the  stalk  of  violence. 
Some  day  the  nations  will  place  their  trust  in  love,  the  weapon  for 
which  there  is  no  shield;  in  love,  that  suffereth  long  and  is  kind; 
in  love,  that  is  not  easily  provoked,  that  beareth  all  things,  believeth 
all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things;  in  love,  which 
though  despised  as  weakness  by  the  worshipers  of  Mars,  abideth 
when  all  else  fails." 

The  Lusitania  crisis  ended  with  the  third  note,  sent  on  July  22, 
which  concluded  with  the  statement  that  if  Germany,  without  warn- 
ing, sank  any  more  vessels  carrying  American  passengers,  it  would 
be  considered  a  "deliberately  unfriendly  act."  President  Wilson 
himself  inserted  those  words  in  the  note  which  had  been  drafted 
by  Secretary  Franklin  K.  Lane.  Robert  Lansing,  former  counsel 
to  the  Department  of  State,  was  given  the  portfolio  in  Bryan's  place. 

Though  Bryan  and  the  President  parted  with  such  outward  ex- 
pressions of  good  will,  the  break  between  them  never  was  mended 
again.  It  was  riven  open  in  1920  when  Bryan  openly  opposed  Wil- 
son's stand  on  the  league  of  nations.  The  rift  was  hopelessly 
widened  when  the  Wilson  forces,  in  the  convention  of  1920,  threw 
Bryan's  league  plank  out  of  the  party  platform. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


Patriotism  and  Pacifism 

Bryan's  Stand  Before  and  After  War  Is  Declared— Early  Views 
on  Peace  in  General — Thousands  Cheer  Him  at  Madison  Square 
Garden — Statement  Explaining  His  Criticisms  of  President  Wil- 
son's Preparedness  Policy — London  Peace  Congress  Speech,  1916 
— War — Bryan's  Offer  of  Service — Commoner's  Editorial — Chi- 
cago Chautauqua  Meeting,  a  Pro-War  Address — Pendulum  Swings 
Again  After  War — League  of  Nations  Clash  with  Wilson — Patriot 
Higher  Than  a  Partisan. 

"Gladly  would  I  have  given  my  life  to  save  my  country  from 
war,  but  now  that  my  country  has  gone  to  war,  gladly  will  I  give 
my  life  to  aid  it." 

This  declaration  by  William  Jennings  Bryan  prefaced  a  lecture 
he  delivered  in  Albany,  Georgia,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1917. 

But  it  might  also  be  used  as  the  declaration  of  Bryan's  life; 
of  his  reconciliation  of  the  zeal  of  a  peace-loving  citizen  with  the 
service  of  an  energetic  patriot,  in  time  of  war.  As  a  young  man 
Bryan,  you  will  remember,  volunteered  for  service  in  the  Spanish- 
American  war,  serving  with  the  rank  as  a  colonel  in  command  of 
a  regiment.  But  after  the  war,  with  the  exigency  removed,  Bryan 
became  an  advocate  of  peace,  personal  and  partisan. 

The  pendulum  swung  far  in  favor  of  peace.  There  was  his 
famous  lecture,  "The  Prince  of  Peace."  There  were  scores  of  other 
articles,  editorials,  informal  talks.  During  his  membership  in  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  cabinet,  with  the  portfolio  of  Secretary  of  State, 
Bryan  bended  his  energies  to  the  consummation  of  thirty  peace 
treaties.  Later,  the  ideal  of  peace,  and  his  idea  of  how  that  ideal 
should  be  achieved,  compelled  him,  he  believed,  to  resign  from  the 
position  of  Secretary  of  State  and  break  with  Wilson,  the  man 
whose  nomination  he  had  really  brought  about. 

299 


300  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

So  much  for  Bryan's  attitude  before  the  United  States  actually 
declared  war.  Once  our  country  had  given  her  ultimatum,  the 
pendulum  of  Bryan's  pacifism  swung  just  as  far,  just  as  sincerely, 
and  just  as  energetically,  in  the  direction  of  active  patriotism. 

It  is  with  these  seemingly  antithetical  points  of  view  that  this 
chapter  is  concerned.  Only  Bryan  found  nothing  inconsistent  in 
the  two  swings.  For,  as  he  expressed  himself  in  the  pronunciamento 
at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  he  would  gladly  have  given  his 
life  to  keep  his  country  from  war,  but  once  war  was  declared,  he 
would  as  gladly  have  given  his  life  to  aid  the  immediate  and 
successful  prosecution  of  that  war. 

First,  let  us  consider  that  earlier,  more  detached  viewpoint  when, 
in  "The  Price  of  a  Soul,"  Bryan  is  talking,  more  or  less  generically, 
of  the  value  of  peace,  and  of  the  righteousness  which  is  both  the 
cause  and,  sometimes  the  result,  of  peace. 

In  this  speech  he  says,  in  part: 

"I  challenge  the  doctrine,  now  being  taught,  that  we  must  enter 
into  a  mad  rivalry  with  the  Old  World  in  the  building  of  battleships 
— the  doctrine  that  the  only  way  to  preserve  peace  is  to  get  ready 
for  wars  that  ought  never  to  come !  It  is  a  barbarous,  brutal,  un- 
christian doctrine — the  doctrine  of  the  darkness,  not  the  doctrine 
of  the  dawn. 

"Nation  after  nation,  when  at  the  zenith  of  its  power,  has  pro- 
claimed itself  invincible  because  its  army  could  shake  the  earth 
with  its  tread,  and  its  ships  could  fill  the  seas,  but  these  nations  are 
dead,  and  we  must  build  upon  a  different  foundation  if  we  would 
avoid  their  fate. 

"Carlyle,  in  the  closing  chapters  of  his  Trench  Revolution'  says 
that  thought  is  stronger  than  artillery  parks  and  at  last  molds  the 
world  like  soft  clay,  and  then  he  adds  that  back  of  the  thought  is 
love.     Carlyle  is  right.     Love  is  the  greatest  power  in  the  world. 


PATRIOTISM  AND  PACIFISM  301 

The  nations  that  are  dead  boasted  that  their  flag  was  feared;  let 
it  be  our  boast  that  our  flag  is  loved.  The  nations  that  are  dead 
boasted  that  people  bowed  before  their  flag;  let  us  not  be  content 
until  our  flag  represents  sentiments  so  high  and  holy  that  the  op- 
pressed of  every  land  will  turn  their  faces  toward  that  flag  and 
thank  God  that  there  is  one  flag  that  stands  for  self-government 
and  the  rights  of  man. 

"The  enlightened  conscience  of  our  nation  should  proclaim  as 
the  country's  creed  that  'righteousness  exalteth  a  nation'  and  that 
justice  is  a  nation's  surest  defense.  If  ever  a  nation  was  called 
to  put  God's  truth  to  the  test,  it  is  ours;  if  there  ever  was  a  time 
it  is  now.  With  an  ocean  rolling  on  either  side,  and  a  mountain 
range  along  either  coast  that  all  the  armies  of  the  world  could  never 
climb,  we  ought  not  to  be  afraid  to  trust  in  'the  wisdom  of  doing 
right.' 

"Our  government,  conceived  in  freedom  and  purchased  with 
blood,  can  be  preserved  only  by  constant  vigilance.  May  we  guard 
it  as  our  children's  richest  legacy,  for  what  shall  it  profit  our  nation 
if  it  shall  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  'the  spirit  that  prizes  liberty 
as  the  heritage  of  all  men  in  all  lands  everywhere  ?'  " 

Then  came  the  conflict  over  in  Europe.  In  the  summer  of  1915 
Bryan  made  some  fervent  peace  talks.  He  swept  people  off  their 
feet.  In  Madison  Square  Garden,  on  the  24th  of  June  of  that  year, 
a  tremendous  audience  cheered  themselves  into  a  frenzy  of  en- 
thusiasm as  he  spoke  to  them.  Twelve  thousand  men  and  women 
managed  to  jam  into  the  hall.  Their  shouts  of  approval  were  taken 
up  by  the  thousands  milling  about  the  building.  The  police  director 
in  charge  of  arrangements  estimated,  conservatively,  that  100,000 
applauded  Bryan  that  night  as  he  made  an  address  on  "National 
Honor"  at  the  mass  meeting  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Friends 
of  Peace  society. 


302  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

In  the  course  of  the  talk  Bryan  said : 

"Tonight,  I  plead  against  war  with  Germany.  Should  similar 
circumstances  arise  with  France,  England,  or  Russia,  I  would  plead 
just  as  ardently  against  war  with  any  of  those  countries." 

As  the  former  "Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte"  banged  his  fist  on 
the  railing  of  the  speaker's  platform,  his  teeth  clicked  together ;  his 
body  vibrated;  his  eyes  flashed.  Those  in  the  Garden  leaped  to 
their  feet.  They  waved  American  flags.  They  shouted  and  they 
whistled.  They  stamped  their  feet,  and  they  shrieked.  The  crowd 
outside  took  up  the  cries  and  there  was  a  scene  of  wild  commotion. 

Then  a  quieter  interlude,  when  Bryan  affirmed  his  faith  in  the 
conviction  that  the  people  of  the  nation  would  unanimously  back 
the  President  in  case  of  war.  But  he  denounced  the  men  who,  he 
asserted,  called  upon  the  nation  to  take  up  arms  immediately. 

"I  appeal  to  you,"  and  he  spread  his  arms  expansively,  as  he 
looked  down  at  the  audience,  "to  make  your  views  known  to  the 
President,  that  he  may  be  strengthened  against  the  insolent  clamor 
of  those  who  ridicule  peaceful  methods,  and,  as  if  infuriated  by  the 
scent  of  blood,  are  bellowing  for  war.  I  appeal  to  you  to  cast  your 
influence,  not  in  favor  of  either  side,  but  in  favor  of  peace  for  the 
United  States  and  against  war  with  any  of  the  belligerent  nations." 

A  few  months  later  the  fight  on  preparedness  became  acute. 
Bryan  disagreed  with  President  Wilson's  attitude  and  said  so  in 
editorial  and  speech.  But,  he  maintained,  this  was  legitimate,  con- 
sistent, and  what  the  President  wanted,  in  order  that  he  might 
feel  the  pulse  of  the  nation. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  from  Washington,  Bryan  issued  a 
statement  outlining  his  position  on  the  defense  fight,  and  maintain- 
ing that  he  was  both  friend  and  critic  of  the  President. 

First,  he  explained  his  relations  with  Wilson. 

"I  have  no  plans  formulated,"  the  statement  read.  "I  am  doing 
what  I  believe  to  be  the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  do.    How  can  the 


PATRIOTISM  AND  PACIFISM  303 

President  know  what  the  people  think  unless  individuals  express 
themselves?  Why  should  those  who  differ  be  silent?  The  editors 
of  metropolitan  newspapers  who  daily  fling  incense  before  the  spe- 
cial interests  do  not  hesitate  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  what  the 
country  needs.  Why  should  a  country  editor  like  myself  be  denied 
the  privilege? 

"Why  should  a  Democrat's  friendship  for  the  President  be 
questioned  when  he  differs  with  the  President  on  an  issue  like  this, 
which  has  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  country  or  the  party  to 
commend  it?  The  President's  appeal  was  not  to  members  of  his 
party,  but  to  the  people  of  all  shades  of  opinion. 

"When  did  it  become  unpatriotic  for  a  citizen  to  differ  with  a 
President?  When  did  it  become  disloyal  for  a  Democrat  to  differ 
with  a  Democratic  President  on  an  issue  which  the  President  de- 
clared to  be  non-partisan? 

"The  President  said  he  would  ask  those  who  differed  with  him 
to  express  their  opinion.  He  certainly  will  be  the  last  to  complain 
because  his  request  is  complied  with." 

Then,  more  specifically,  Bryan  went  on  to  a  consideration  of 
the  preparedness  question  to  which  he  was  definitely  opposed. 

After  concluding  his  explanation  of  his  right,  in  general,  to  dis- 
agree with  his  President  on  a  non-partisan  question,  Bryan  went  on 
to  a  consideration  of  why  he  did  disagree  on  this  preparedness 
issue. 

"A  great  many  persons,"  he  continued,  "no  one  can  definitely 
state  the  number,  but  they  are  quite  a  multitude,  believe  that  we 
cannot  insure  the  nation  against  war  by  adopting  the  policy  which 
led  Europe  into  war.  It  is  more  reasonable  to  assume  that  peace 
can  be  promoted  between  nations  by  the  same  philosophy  which 
promotes  peace  between  individuals  in  communities. 

"We  are  now  spending  $250,000,000  a  year  for  preparedness. 
A  great  many  think  that  this  is  enough,  and  are  opposed  to  any 


304  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

increase  at  present.  The  burden  of  the  proof  is  on  those  who 
say  the  increase  is  necessary,  and  it  will  be  hard  to  prove  this,  in 
view  of  the  President's  statement  that  'we  are  not  threatened  from 
any  quarter,  but  our  relations  with  all  nations  are  friendly;  that 
everybody  knows  of  our  capacity  for  defense,  and  that  there  is  no 
fear  among  us.'  " 

A  few  months  later,  and  at  the  London  Peace  Congress  we  find 
Bryan  saying  these  words: 

"I  will  not  disguise  the  fact  that  I  consider  this  resolution  (pre- 
senting the  peace  treaty  plan,  afterwards  incorporated  in  the  thirty 
peace  treaties)  a  long  step  in  the  direction  of  peace,  nor  will  I  dis- 
guise the  fact  that  I  am  here  because  I  desire  this  Interparliamentary 
Union  to  take  just  as  long  a  step  as  possible  in  the  direction  of 
universal  peace.  We  meet  in  a  famous  hall;  looking  down  upon 
us  from  these  walls  are  pictures  that  illustrate  not  only  the  glory 
that  is  to  be  won  in  war,  but  the  horrors  that  follow  war.  There 
is  a  picture  of  one  of  the  great  figures  in  English  history  (pointing 
to  the  fresco  by  Maclise  of  the  death  of  Nelson).  Lord  Nelson  is 
represented  as  dying,  and  around  him  are  the  mangled  forms  of 
others.  I  understand  that  war  brings  out  certain  virtues.  I  am 
aware  that  it  gives  opportunity  for  the  display  of  great  patriotism; 
I  am  aware  that  the  example  of  men  who  give  their  lives  for  their 
country  is  inspiring;  but  I  venture  to  say  that  there  is  as  much 
inspiration  in  a  noble  life  as  there  is  in  an  heroic  death,  and  I  trust 
that  one  of  the  results  of  this  Interparliamentary  Union  will  be  to 
emphasize  the  doctrine  that  a  life  devoted  to  the  public,  and  over- 
flowing, like  a  spring,  with  good,  exerts  an  influence  upon  the 
human  race  and  upon  the  destiny  of  the  world  as  great  as  any  death 
in  war.  And,  if  you  will  permit  me  to  mention  one  whose  career  I 
watched  with  interest  and  whose  name  I  revere,  I  will  add  that  in 
my  humble  judgment,  the  sixty-four  years  of  spotless  public  service 
of  William  Ewart  Gladstone  will,  in  years  to  come,  be  regarded  as 


P.    &    A.    photo. 


Lawyer  Again — Bryan  reverts  to  his  old  profession  in  the  Scopes  case. 
The  argument  against  the  defense's  expert  testimony. 


©  Underwood  &   Underwood   photo. 

Hoisting  Darrow  With  His  Own  Petard — Bryan  quotes  from  Darrow's 
defense  of  Loeb  and  Leopold  in  his  argument  in  court. 


2  53 

.§  2 

a  3 

o  43 

5  ts 


1  5 

C3    qn 


Co 

2  S 


»-"S 
"2 


PATRIOTISM  AND  PACIFISM  307 

rich  an  ornament  to  the  history  of  this  nation  as  the  life  of  any  man 
who  poured  out  his  blood  upon  a  battlefield. " 

Then  one  profound  day  came  the  entry  of  the  United  States 
into  the  World  War.  And  Bryan's  pendulum  of  pacifism  swung, 
with  a  full,  vigorous  sweep,  clean  over  to  the  side  of  patriotism. 
A  positive,  aggressive  patriotism,  not  one  quiescently  philosophic. 

Immediately  after  the  country's  declaration  of  war  the  erstwhile 
exponent  of  peace  sent  the  following  telegram  to  Woodrow  Wilson. 
Dated  April  6,  from  Tallahassee,  Florida,  it  read  as  follows: 

"Believing  it  to  be  the  duty  of  each  citizen  to  bear  his  part  of 
the  burden  of  war  and  his  share  of  its  perils,  I  hereby  tender  my 
services  to  the  government.  Please  enroll  me  as  a  private  when- 
ever I  am  needed.  Assign  me  to  any  work  that  I  can  do  until  called 
to  the  colors.  I  shall,  through  the  Red  Cross,  contribute  to  the 
comfort  of  soldiers  in  the  hospitals,  and  through  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  aid  in  guarding  the  morals  of  the  men  in 
camp." 

A  few  days  later,  on  the  16th,  Bryan,  then  fifty-seven  years  old, 
went  to  the  White  House  to  reiterate  the  offer  he  had  telegraphed 
his  chief. 

Following  the  interview,  Bryan  dictated  a  statement  declaring 
his  intention  to  support  the  government  in  any  war  plans  on  which 
it  might  decide.  He  declined,  however,  to  discuss  conscription 
specifically. 

In  all  future  speeches,  pending  a  call  from  the  government  for 
his  services,  the  former  Secretary  of  State  pledged  himself  to  lay 
especial  stress  on  the  exigencies  of  the  food  situation.  In  con- 
junction with  food  conservation,  as  well  as  with  his  own  temperance 
beliefs,  Bryan  said  he  would  endorse  any  plan  to  prohibit  the  use 
of  grain  for  making  liquor  during  the  war. 

The  following  editorial  appeared  in  The  Commoner  in  a  few 
months : 


308  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"We  must  win.  Defeat  is  inconceivable — it  would  be  indescrib- 
ably unfortunate,  if  it  were  possible.  We  can  not  allow  any  for- 
eign nation  to  determine  the  destiny  of  the  United  States — especially 
a  nation  committed,  as  Germany  is,  to  arbitrary  government  and 
militarism. 

"Neither  can  we  afford  to  have  our  allies  overcome — that  would 
bring  upon  us  the  disasters  of  defeat  or  the  burden  of  carrying  on 
the  war  alone. 

"We  are  in  the  war  by  the  action  of  Congress — the  only  body 
authorized  to  take  the  nation  into  war.  The  quickest  way  to  peace 
is  to  go  straight  through,  supporting  the  government  in  all  it  under- 
takes, no  matter  how  long  the  war  lasts  nor  how  much  it  costs." 

And  a  few  weeks  later  in  a  message  of  patriotism  that  thrilled 
thousands  at  a  Chautauqua  meeting  in  Chicago,  the  Commoner  used 
his  silver  tongue  to  get  across  an  impassioned  plea  for  a  quick  vic- 
tory. 

"Now  is  no  time  for  dissension/'  the  resonant  voice  urged. 

"It  is  not  only  our  duty  to  back  up  the  President  and  the  gov- 
ernment in  this  trying  hour,  but  it  is  our  duty  to  back  them  up  in 
whatever  they  undertake  during  the  war." 

The  audience,  excited  by  his  pro-war  declarations,  rose  to  its 
feet  and  cheered  and  screamed  and  yelled  its  approval. 

"No  one  can  say,"  he  continued,  "how  long  this  war  will  last. 
But  one  fact  more  important  than  a  guess  is,  that  no  matter  whether 
long  or  short,  the  quickest  way  out  of  it  is  straight  through  it." 

And  there  was  another  demonstration. 

"And  the  more  anxious  a  person  is  for  peace  the  more  loyally 
he  should  support  this  government  of  ours.  Every  person  who  is 
praying  for  peace  should  be  giving  of  every  aid  he  or  she  is  capable 
in  support  of  the  United  States,  for  we  shall  have  peace  when  this 
nation  has  triumphed  and  not  before." 

Then,  commending  to  the  audience  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross, 


PATRIOTISM  AND  PACIFISM  309 

the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  the  Knights  of  Colum- 
bus, Bryan  said: 

"For  these  noble  agencies  will  make  the  lot  of  our  soldiers 
easier  and  surround  them  with  the  right  kind  of  influences.  We 
should  all  do  everything  possible  in  the  line  of  food  production 
and  food  conservation,  and  then  furnish  all  the  money  we  can  for 
the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war,  both  by  taxation  and  loans. 

"To  sustain  this  government  is  the  solemn  duty  of  every  person 
who  stands  for  the  best  form  of  government  ever  conceived  by  the 
mind  of  man,  and  toward  which  the  world  is  moving.  For,  as  a 
result  of  this  present  war,  after  the  nation  has  triumphed,  as  it 
will  triumph  and  deserves  to  triumph,  autocracy  will  be  overthrown 
in  this  world." 

Finally  the  war  was  ended ;  the  Allies  and  America  had  won. 

Once  more  President  Wilson  and  former  Secretary  of  State 
Bryan  had  an  open  clash,  and  again,  over  peace  procedure.  The 
first  difference  of  opinion  had  come  in  June,  1915,  when  Bryan, 
feeling  that  he  could  not  sign  the  note  dealing  with  the  submarine 
issue  that  had  been  prepared  for  transmission  to  Berlin,  resigned 
from  the  President's  cabinet. 

The  next  clash  came  on  the  evening  of  January  9,  1920,  when 
both  men  spoke  at  the  Jackson  Day  dinner  in  Washington.  The 
President  condemned  reservations  to  the  league  of  nations  covenant 
advanced  by  the  late  Senator  Henry  Cabot  Lodge.  Bryan  took 
sharp  issue  with  the  President.  He  repudiated  Wilson's  famous 
Article  X  and  went  so  far  as  to  advocate  a  compromise  with  the 
Republicans. 

The  echo  of  that  clash,  only  the  echo  was  more  decisive  than 
the  original,  came  when  the  Wilson  administration  leaders  by  an 
overwhelming  majority  vote  defeated  Bryan's  league  plank  in  the 
1920  Democratic  convention,  placing  the  Wilson  plank  in  the  plat- 
form. 


310  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

And  then,  once  again,  as  recently  as  January,  1924,  the  pendulum 
began  to  swing  over  to  pacifism.  It  didn't  fling  itself  back  quite  so 
far,  perhaps,  as  it  had  in  years  gone  by.  The  gentle  swing  started 
with  Bryan's  plea  that  our  nation  purchase  a  "priceless  peace  with 
a  worthless  debt,"  and  was  made  in  an  address  at  Memphis,  Ten- 
nessee. 

Bryan  advocated  cancellation  of  war  loans  made  by  the  United 
States  to  her  allies  on  condition  that  the  debtor  nations  disarm  and 
join  in  a  movement  for  world  peace. 

'These  debts  are  worthless,"  he  said.  "The  best  thing  America 
can  do  is  to  trade  a  worthless  debt  for  a  priceless  peace.  We  should 
tell  these  debtor  nations  that  when  they  disarm  they  can  tear  up 
their  notes  to  us." 

And,  in  closing  this  consideration  of  Bryan's  patriotism  and 
pacifism,  we  can  not  do  better  than  direct  attention  to  that  auto- 
biographical philosophy  expressed  by  Bryan  in  his  "Price  of  a 
Soul": 

"The  patriot  must  desire  the  triumph  of  that  which  is  right, 
more  than  the  triumph  of  that  which  he  may  think  to  be  right  if 
he  is,  in  fact,  mistaken ;  and  so  the  partisan,  if  he  be  an  intelligent 
partisan,  must  be  prepared  to  rejoice  in  his  own  or  his  party's 
defeat,  if  by  that  defeat  his  country  is  the  gainer." 


CHAPTER  XXV 


The  Reforms 

Political  Prophet,  if  Unsuccessful  Candidate — Republicans  "Stole 
His  Clothes"  Charge— Prohibition— Grape  Juice— "Don't  Bury 
Democratic  Party  in  Drunkard's  Grave" — Prohibition  and  the 
War— Woman  Suffrage — Popular  Election  of  Senators— Income 
Tax  Amendment — Eight  Hour  Day — Government  by  Injunction — 
Publicity  of  Campaign  Contributions — Establishment  of  Depart- 
ment of  Labor. 

When  Bryan,  thrice  defeated  for  President  but  political  prophet 
of  amazing  successes,  lay  dead  in  his  coffin,  and  messages  of  con- 
dolence were  pouring  in  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  it  was  for 
John  W.  Davis,  candidate  for  President  in  1924,  to  epitomize  the 
Commoner's  achievements,  by  stating: 

"I  think  it  only  fair  to  say  that  few  men,  if  any,  have  lived  to  see 
so  many  of  the  policies  they  advocated  enacted  into  law." 

They  laughed  at  Bryan;  they  cartooned  him  up  and  down  the 
land,  for  the  grape  juice  and  all ;  they  made  him  the  central  figure 
of  vaudeville  skit  and  whimsical  verse.  On  some  of  his  proposed 
issues,  time  has  given  a  true  if  cruel  perspective  and  what  seemed 
so  vastly  important  at  the  moment,  the  free  silver  issue  for  instance, 
has  tapered  off  into  something  so  remote  from  a  vital  problem  that 
it  is  difficult  for  this  political  generation  to  comprehend  the  zeal  with 
which  the  question  was  fought  out,  back  in  1896. 

But  in  other  reforms,  Bryan  played  a  winner.  True,  he  never 
got  to  the  White  House,  and  these  reforms  in  which  his  friends 
claim  for  him  the  initial  credit  were  all  enunciated,  in  the  final 
analysis,  by  others.  But  a  survey  of  his  writings  and  utterances 
years  ago,  demonstrates  beyond  a  doubt  that  he  was  a  prophet  of 
no  small  success  in  some  of  his  proposed  readjustments. 

311 


312  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Indeed,  so  many  of  the  causes  championed  by  Bryan  were  later 
written  into  the  government  of  the  United  States  that  once,  during 
the  administration  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  when  the  two  men  were 
attending  the  same  dinner,  Bryan,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  charged 
Roosevelt  with  having  "stolen  his  clothes." 

Then  Bryan  told  how  an  old  colored  lady  grew  desperately  ill, 
and  sent  for  a  white  doctor  living  near  by,  when  her  own  colored 
doctor  had  proved  woefully  inadequate. 

The  white  physician  said: 

"Well,  aunty,  you  had  to  send  for  me  after  all,  didn't  you  ?  What 
did  that  old  fraud  do  for  you?  Did  he  find  out  what  was  the  matter 
with  you?    Did  he  take  your  temperature ?" 

Aunty  replied,  "  'Deed,  sir,  I  don't  know  what  all  he  done  took. 
I  ain't  had  time  look  'round  yit,  but  dem  no  'count  niggahs  liable 
take  anything." 

Bryan  wasn't  sure  that  Roosevelt  had  left  him  even  his 
temperature. 

The  beginnings  of  Bryan's  stand  on  prohibition  came,  of  course, 
years  before  their  first  general  enunciation.  Himself  a  total  ab- 
stainer, the  Commoner  never  approved  of  liquor.  But  it  was 
about  1909,  after  his  third  defeat  for  the  Presidency,  that  the  Peer- 
less Leader,  refusing  to  stay  "dead,"  launched  his  plan  of  forcing 
prohibition  to  the  front  as  a  Democratic  issue.  Shrewd  political 
observers  in  his  own,  and  in  the  Republican  party,  then  proclaimed 
that  Bryan's  dry  idea  would  sound  his  death  knell. 

But  he  persisted.  In  an  issue  of  The  Commoner  in  November, 
1909,  we  find  him  letting  go  this  broadside  at  the  saloon  and  its 
relation  to  human  liberty: 

"The  liquor  dealers,  recognizing  that  their  obvious  pecuniary 
interest  would  lessen  the  weight  of  any  argument  which  they  might 
publicly  advance,  are  making  their  fight  under  cover  of  organiza- 
tions purporting  to  represent  those  who  use  liquor.    Well-meaning 


THE  REFORMS  313 

men  have  been  misled  into  believing  that  every  attempt  to  lessen 
the  evils  of  intemperance  is  a  fanatical  attack  on  personal  liberty. 

"What  is  meant  by  'personal  liberty'?  Does  it  mean  a  person 
has  a  right  to  drink  in  any  quantity  at  any  time  and  in  any  place, 
no  matter  what  injury  he  may  inflict  upon  others?  If  not,  with 
whom  rests  the  right  to  fix  limitations?  The  right  to  drink  does 
not  necessarily  include  the  right  to  demand  the  establishment  of  a 
saloon." 

In  December,  1909,  with  Bryan  championing  the  dry  issue 
vigorously,  the  defeat  of  the  prohibition  constitutional  amendment 
in  Alabama  moved  many  political  leaders  to  declare  that  William 
Jennings  Bryan  had  come  out  for  prohibition  as  a  national  issue 
"too  late  to  do  himself  and  his  perennial  ambitions  any  good." 

One  of  the  more  acrimonious  of  his  attackers,  a  Senator,  said 
this: 

"It  looks  as  if  Bryan  had  been  anywhere  from  two  to  four  years 
too  late  in  embracing  the  prohibition  creed  for  the  purpose  of  turn- 
ing it  to  political  uses.  The  fact  is,  that  the  reaction  from  the  local 
option  wave  of  legislation  has  set  in,  and  you  may  be  prepared 
to  see  the  movement  come  to  a  dead  stop  and  much  of  the  legisla- 
tion already  enacted  repealed.  That  is  indicated  not  only  by  the 
outcome  of  the  Alabama  contest  but  by  the  temper  of  the  people 
in  other  southern  prohibition  states.  The  prohibition  movement  is 
on  the  wane,  because  the  people  are  coming  to  their  senses.  They 
find  that  there  is  just  as  much  liquor  sold  in  blind  tigers  under 
prohibition  as  in  open  saloons  under  license. 

"I  wasn't  surprised  to  find  Bryan  taking  up  with  the  move- 
ment, for  he  is  to  be  classed  with  the  purely  emotional  creatures. 
I  suppose  he  thinks  he  can  get  the  nomination  from  the  prohibition 
party,  too,  and  be  swept  into  office  in  1912,  but  he  is  due  for  a  sad 
awakening." 

But  Bryan  went  right  on  fighting. 


314  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

In  1915,  in  the  course  of  a  total  abstinence  speech  delivered  at 
New  York,  he  acclaimed  water  in  this  fashion: 

"All  hail  to  the  drink  of  drinks — to  water,  the  daily  need  of 
every  living  thing!  It  ascends  from  the  earth  in  obedience  to  the 
summons  of  the  sun,  and  descends  in  showers  of  blessings.  It  gives 
forth  of  its  sparkling  beauty  to  the  fragrant  flower;  its  alchemy 
transmutes  base  clay  into  golden  grain;  it  is  the  radiant  canvas 
upon  which  the  finger  of  the  Infinite  traces  the  rainbow  of  promise. 
It  is  the  beverage  that  refreshes  and  brings  no  sorrow  with  it. 
Jehovah  looked  upon  it  at  creation's  dawn  and  said  'It  is  good.' ' 

About  the  same  time,  disturbed  by  what  he  characterized  as  "the 
way  some  of  the  Democratic  editors  of  the  country  have  misin- 
terpreted" his  stand  in  favor  of  both  prohibition  and  woman's  suf- 
frage, Bryan,  then  the  Secretary  of  State,  made  it  plain  in  an  edi- 
torial in  The  Commoner  that  he  did  not  favor  these  measures  as 
national  enactments,  but  rather,  by  state  legislation. 

But  he  added  that  his  hostility  to  the  liquor  business  was  great 
enough,  and  his  belief  in  the  rights  of  woman  suffrage  strong 
enough,  to  cause  him  to  vote  for  either  amendment,  should  they 
be  presented  as  federal  acts. 

His  "grape  juice"  stand,  during  his  incumbency  as  Secretary 
of  State,  is  outlined  in  another  chapter.  It  can  be  mentioned  here, 
however,  that  it  was  the  subject  of  jest  up  and  down  the  country- 
side, but  that  Bryan  stood  the  ridicule  valiantly. 

In  fact,  one  of  his  favorite  stories  related  to  the  time,  back 
in  1884,  when  he  made  a  speech  at  a  tiny  Illinois  schoolhouse.  As 
he  drove  up  in  his  buggy,  the  story  goes,  one  Timothy  Flynn 
came  up,  led  the  orator  to  one  side,  pulled  out  a  bottle  and  said, 

"Won't  you  have  something  to  drink?" 

Bryan  said,  "No,  thank  you." 

Timothy  was  insistent,  "Better  have  a  little,"  he  urged. 

Bryan  maintained  that  he  "didn't  care  for  any." 


THE  REFORMS  315 

"Oh,  just  a  drop,"  Timothy  importuned. 

"No,  I  don't  use  it," — Bryan's  audiences  were  always  laugh- 
ing by  the  time  he  got  to  this  point. 

"Then,"  Bryan  would  say,  "Timothy  laid  his  hand  upon  my 
shoulder,  and  I  can  hear  his  voice  now,  full  of  pathos,  as  he  said, 
'Well,  do  the  best  you  can,  anyway.' " 

In  March,  1918,  Bryan  stood  on  the  steps  of  the  Art  Institute  in 
Chicago  and  exhorted  ten  thousand  to  favor  prohibition.  Michigan 
boulevard  was  thronged  with  listeners  and  traffic  was  blocked  as  the 
crowds  surged  about  the  building  and  spilled  out  into  the  street. 

A  few  months  later,  at  the  Billy  Sunday  tabernacle  in  Phila- 
delphia, more  than  twelve  thousand  came  up  the  trail  and  signed  the 
pledge.  The  burden  of  Bryan's  theme,  at  this  meeting,  was  that 
men  cannot  afford  to  drink,  from  financial  or  physical  reasons. 
The  physical  discomfort,  he  argued,  fails  to  compensate  for  any 
possible  pleasure.  Again,  men  owe  to  their  progeny  life  without 
any  inherited  weakness,  and  lastly,  "man  is  his  brother's  keeper  and 
he  is  morally  wrong  in  drinking,  for  the  example  it  sets  the  weak." 

In  January,  1917,  Bryan  sent  five  thousand  Illinois  Democrats 
into  a  spasm  of  enthusiasm  down  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  when  he 
literally  screamed  out,  "You  shall  not  bury  the  Democratic  party 
in  a  drunkard's  grave." 

He  charged  that  his  own  defeat  for  the  Presidency  in  1908  was 
brought  about  by  the  organized  liquor  forces.  His  speech  was 
directed  to  a  non-partisan  spirit  and  urged  everybody  to  work  to 
make  the  state  capital  dry  at  the  April  election. 

The  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war  gave  Bryan  addi- 
tional ammunition  for  his  dry  arguments.  A  speech  delivered  by 
him  in  March,  1918,  to  a  group  of  railroad  shop  workers  assembled 
at  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Chicago,  was  highly  typical  of  the  pleas  he 
was  making  all  over.    A  few  sentences  from  that  speech  follow: 

"At  no  time  in  the  world's  history  has  America  needed  100  per 


316  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

cent  men  more  than  at  present.  On  the  battle-line  abroad  where 
is  now  in  progress  probably  the  greatest  battle  in  history,  and  here 
at  home,  during  the  harder  strain  of  war,  our  men  must  be  up  to 
their  fullest  powers  of  achievement.  Muscles  must  be  strong  and 
eyes  steady.  Any  traffic  which  contributes  to  unsteadiness  or  bad 
condition  is  an  enemy  of  the  nation  and  a  hazard  to  the  entire 
Allied  cause.  Such  is  strong  drink  used  either  by  soldiers  or  civilians. 
It  is  a  poison  that  unnerves  and  shatters.  I  agree  with  the  British 
statesmen  who  put  alcohol  as  the  greatest  curse  of  the  world  today. 

"Knowing  that  we  cannot  spare  a  loaf  of  bread  and  that  every 
loaf  wasted  is  a  help  to  the  enemy,  the  brewers  of  the  nation  de- 
liberately go  ahead  and  throw  away  this  grain  manufacturing  a 
poisonous  drink. " 

In  that  same  month  Bryan  was  elected  president  of  the  National 
Dry  federation  which,  the  following  February,  presented  him  with 
a  silver  cup  in  token  of  his  work  for  the  cause. 

This,  one  of  his  most  impassioned  pleas,  was  made  shortly  before 
the  national  prohibition  amendment  was  passed : 

'The  sentiment  in  favor  of  prohibition,  local,  state  and  national, 
is  growing  because  increased  intelligence  and  an  awakening  con- 
science unite  in  condemning  the  license  system. 

"No  community  would  permit  the  existence  of  an  institution 
which,  merely  for  profit,  cut  off  fingers,  toes,  hands  and  feet;  why 
then  should  any  community  permit  the  existence  of  the  saloon  which, 
for  the  money  to  be  made  by  it,  cripples  the  body,  enfeebles  the 
brain,  and  destroys  the  morals? 

"No  community  would  license  a  person  to  scatter  the  germs  of 
hog  cholera  among  hogs ;  why  then  should  any  community  license  a 
saloon  to  spread  disease  and  death  among  human  beings,  and, 
through  tainted  blood,  close  the  door  of  hope  to  innocent  children 
before  they  see  the  light  of  day?" 


THE  REFORMS  317 

The  second  reform  which  Bryan  advocated,  and  which  was  writ- 
ten into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  was  the  cause  of 
woman  suffrage. 

Immediately  the  issue  was  projected  into  the  lime-light  of  national 
publicity,  Bryan  took  a  staunch  stand  on  it,  declaring  that  he  would 
claim  no  privileges  for  himself  that  he  would  not  ask  for  his  wife. 

When  the  suffrage  amendment  was  submitted  to  the  voters  of 
Nebraska  in  1914,  Bryan  took  an  active  part  in  the  campaign  for  its 
passage.    One  of  his  most  famous  speeches  follows,  in  part : 

"I  shall  support  the  amendment.  I  shall  ask  no  political  rights 
for  myself  that  I  am  not  willing  to  grant  to  my  wife. 

"The  first  objection  I  remember  to  have  heard  was  that  as 
woman  cannot  bear  arms  she  should  not  have  a  voice  in  deciding 
questions  that  might  lead  to  war,  or  in  enacting  laws  that  might 
require  an  army  for  their  enforcement. 

"This  argument  is  seldom  offered  now  for  the  reason  that  as 
civilization  advances  laws  are  obeyed  because  they  are  an  expression 
of  the  public  opinion,  not  merely  because  they  have  powder  and 
lead  behind  them. 

"Second.  It  is  urged  by  some  that  woman's  life  is  already  full 
of  care  and  that  the  addition  of  suffrage  would  either  overburden 
her  or  turn  her  attention  away  from  the  duties  of  the  home. 

"The  answer  made  to  this  is  that  the  exercise  of  the  franchise 
might  result  in  a  change  of  thought  and  occupation  that  would 
relieve  the  monotony  of  woman's  work  and  give  restful  variety 
to  her  activities. 

"Third.  Many  well  meaning  men  and  women  affirm  that  suf- 
frage would  work  a  harm  to  woman  by  lessening  the  respect  in 
which  she  is  held. 

"This  argument  would  have  more  weight  had  it  not  been  em- 
ployed against  every  proposition  advanced  in  favor  of  the  enlarge- 
ment of  woman's  sphere.     This  objection  was  once  raised  to  the 


318  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

higher  education,  but  it  is  no  longer  heard.  The  same  objection 
was  offered  each  time  the  door  has  opened,  and  woman,  instead 
of  suffering  degradation,  has  risen. 

"As  for  myself,  I  am  not  in  doubt  as  to  my  duty.  I  desire  to 
present  the  argument  to  which  I  give  the  greatest  weight.  With- 
out minimizing  other  arguments  advanced  in  support  of  the  extend- 
ing of  suffrage  to  woman,  I  place  the  emphasis  upon  the  mother's 
right  to  a  voice  in  molding  the  environment  which  shall  surround 
her  children — an  environment  which  operates  powerfully  in  deter- 
mining whether  her  offspring  will  crown  her  latter  years  with  joy 
or  'bring  down  her  gray  hairs  in  sorrow  to  the  grave.' 

"I  am  not  willing  to  stay  the  mother's  hand  if  she  thinks  that 
by  the  use  of  suffrage  she  can  safeguard  the  welfare  of  those  who 
are  dearer  to  her  than  her  own  life. 

"Politics  will  not  suffer  by  woman's  entrance  into  it.  If  the 
political  world  has  grown  more  pure  in  spite  of  the  evil  influences 
that  have  operated  to  debase  it,  it  will  not  be  polluted  by  the  pres- 
ence and  participation  of  woman. 

"Neither  should  we  doubt  that  woman  can  be  trusted  with  the 
ballot.  She  has  proved  herself  equal  to  every  responsibility  im- 
posed upon  her;  she  will  not  fail  society  in  this  emergency." 

An  additional  reason  for  Bryan's  support  of  the  measure  was 
that  he  felt  that  the  adoption  of  the  woman  suffrage  amendment 
would  greatly  aid  the  cause  of  prohibition  and  of  world  peace. 

The  third  great  political  change  which  Bryan  championed,  and 
which  later  was  incorporated  in  our  Constitution,  was  the  popular 
election  of  senators.  Back  in  1890  he  ran  for  Congress  on  a  plat- 
form which  contained,  verbatim,  this  plank: 

"We  favor  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  which 
will  take  the  election  of  the  United  States  Senators  from  the  state 
legislatures  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  people  where  it  belongs." 

In  1892,  during  his  first  term,  he  voted  for  the  resolution  pro- 


THE  REFORMS  319 

posing  such  an  amendment,  the  first  to  be  passed  by  either  House 
on  this  issue.  No  action  was  taken  at  that  time,  but  at  the  next, 
the  53rd  session,  the  resolution  was  passed  by  the  House.  The 
Senate  opposed  it. 

In  the  Democratic  platform  of  1900,  Bryan  saw  to  it  that  one 
plank  stood  for  the  popular  election  of  Senators.  This  plank  was 
on  deck  again  in  1904,  in  1908  and  in  1912.  In  1910,  with  the 
Democrats  again  in  control  of  the  House,  a  resolution,  for  the  sixth 
time,  was  passed.  This  time  the  Senate  agreed  and  the  amendment 
was  submitted  to  the  states.  It  was  shortly  ratified.  And  William 
Jennings  Bryan,  as  Secretary  of  State,  had  the  opportunity,  in  April, 
1913,  of  signing  his  name  to  the  last  official  document  that  made  his 
beloved  amendment  a  part  of  the  Constitution,  the  amendment  which 
he  had  begun  to  advocate  when,  as  a  young  man  of  thirty,  he  was 
first  running  for  Congress  out  in  Nebraska. 

Then  there  is  the  income  tax  amendment.  Bryan's  1896  plat- 
form contained  a  plank  in  favor  of  this  measure.  After  many  a 
fight,  this  measure  was  ratified  in  1913,  but  just  two  months  too 
soon  for  Bryan  to  affix  his  signature  to  it,  as  the  head  of  the  State 
Department. 

In  his  "Royal  Art,"  Bryan  declares  the  income  tax  is  not  only 
more  fair  in  principle  than  a  tax  upon  consumption  but,  "through 
the  exemption  which  it  contains,"  it  "in  a  measure,  equalizes  the 
injustice  done  by  the  indirect  forms  of  taxation,  since  those  who 
escape  the  income  tax  are  the  very  ones  who  pay  more  than  their 
quota  through  indirect  taxation." 

This  is  the  big  quartette  of  reforms  that  were  translated  into  law. 

But  there  were  many  other  measures  and  phases  of  measures 
to  which  Bryan  gave  the  energy  of  his  vitality,  the  flood  of  his 
oratory,  and  the  persistency  of  his  vigilance. 

There  was  the  eight-hour  day.  Said  Bryan  in  a  campaign  speech 
in  1916: 


320  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"I  put  myself  on  record  as  in  favor  of  an  eight-hour  day  years 
ago.  I  believe  in  it.  These  laboring  men  are  a  part  of  our  com- 
munity ;  they  are  a  part  of  our  business  life ;  they  are  part  of  our 
political  life,  and  they  have  a  right  to  live  up  to  all  the  possibilities 
of  American  citizenship.  If  you  drive  the  laboring  man  from  his 
bed  to  his  work,  and  from  his  work  back  to  his  bed  again,  how  is 
he  to  know  the  comforts  of  home  life?  And  how  is  he  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  citizenship?  It  is  a  farce 
to  say  to  the  laboring  man  that  he  is  a  citizen,  and  then  allow  him 
to  be  denied  opportunity  to  prepare  himself  to  enjoy  the  things  you 
give  him.  The  eight-hour  day  is  now  a  fact,  and  it  has  been  estab- 
lished under  the  leadership  of  a  President  who  wisely  used  the 
opportunity  presented." 

Then,  too,  there  was  his  opposition  to  government  by  injunction. 
At  a  Labor  Day  speech  in  Chicago,  in  1908,  he  argued : 

"All  that  is  sought  is  the  substitution  of  trial  by  jury  for  trial 
by  judge,  when  the  violation  of  the  court's  decree  must  be  estab- 
lished by  evidence. 

"Not  only  is  the  prosecution  for  contempt  a  criminal  prosecu- 
tion, but  there  is  even  more  reason  for  a  jury  than  in  the  ordinary 
criminal  case.  In  the  criminal  court  the  judge  acts  in  a  judicial 
capacity  only.  He  is  not  responsible  for  the  law  which  is  being 
enforced  in  his  court,  and  therefore  he  has  no  personal  grievance 
against  the  defendant,  and,  not  being  the  prosecutor  in  the  case,  he 
does  not  feel  a  personal  interest  in  the  result  of  the  trial;  but  in  a 
contempt  proceeding  the  judge  is  the  lawmaker  and  the  public 
prosecutor  as  well  as  the  judge." 

Again,  as  a  political  prophet,  we  find  record,  from  his  accept- 
ance speech  in  1908,  of  his  insistence  that  the  white  light  of  publicity 
should  shine,  unobstructed,  upon  all  partisan  campaign  contribu- 
tions. 

For  in  asserting  that  an  election  is  a  public  affair,  he  said: 


THE  REFORMS  321 

"The  people,  exercising  the  right  to  select  their  officials  and  to 
decide  upon  the  policies  to  be  pursued,  proceed  to  their  several 
polling  places  on  election  day  and  register  their  will.  What  excuse 
can  be  given  for  secrecy  as  to  the  influences  at  work?  If  a  man, 
pecuniarily  interested  in  'concentrating  the  control  of  the  railroads 
in  one  management/  subscribes  a  large  sum  to  aid  in  carrying  the 
election,  why  should  his  part  in  the  campaign  be  concealed  until  he 
has  put  the  officials  under  obligation  to  him?  If  a  trust  magnate 
contributes  $100,000  to  elect  political  friends  to  office  with  a  view 
to  preventing  hostile  legislation,  why  should  that  fact  be  concealed 
until  his  friends  are  securely  seated  in  their  official  positions? 

"This  is  not  a  new  question;  it  is  a  question  which  has  been 
agitated — a  question  which  the  Republican  leaders  fully  understand 
— a  question  which  the  Republican  candidate  has  studied,  and  yet 
he  refuses  to  declare  himself  in  favor  of  the  legislation  absolutely 
necessary,  namely,  legislation  requiring  publication  before  the  elec- 
tion." 

Once  again,  to  record  a  foreshadowing  of  success,  in  that  1908 
Labor  Day  speech  we  find  Bryan  saying  this: 

"A  long  step  toward  the  elevation  of  labor  to  its  proper  position 
in  the  nation's  deliberations  is  to  be  found  in  the  establishment  of 
a  Department  of  Labor,  with  a  cabinet  officer  at  its  head.  The  wage- 
earners  deserve  this  recognition,  and  the  executive  is  entitled  to 
the  assistance  which  such  an  official  could  render  him.  I  regard 
the  inauguration  of  this  reform  as  the  opening  of  a  new  era  in 
which  those  who  toil  will  have  a  voice  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
President's  council  chamber." 

True,  the  most  deeply  motivating  theory  in  Bryan's  life,  the  free 
silver  issue,  is  the  one  which,  above  all  others,  was  not  carried  into 
actuality;  was  not  heralded  as  necessary;  was  pushed  aside  so 
definitely  that  now  it  is  entirely  and  forever  out  of  the  line  of  vision. 


322  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

But,  granting  all  that,  it  is  still  possible,  it  seems,  to  state  in  the 
words  of  John  W.  Davis : 

"I  think  it  only  fair  to  say  that  few  men,  if  any,  have  lived  to 
see  so  many  of  the  policies  they  advocated  enacted  into  law." 


P.    &   A.    photo. 

Triumph  in  Court — Following  Bryan's  impassioned  plea  against  admis- 
sion  of   scientific   witnesses   on   Scopes'   behalf,   Judge   Raulston   rules 

against  them. 


P.    &    A.    photo. 

Council  of  War — A  conference  during  the  Scopes  trial.     Left  to  right — 
William  J.  Bryan,  Jr.,  Bryan  and  Judge  Ben  F.  McKenzie. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


Conventions  of  1920  and  1924 

Bryan's  Power  Declines — Breaks  with  Wilson  Over  League — 
Jackson  Day  Dinner  Speech — Prohibition  Issue — Dry  Plan  De- 
feated— "My  Heart  Is  in  the  Grave  with  Our  Cause" — Klan  Issue 
in  1924 — "Daybreak  Prayer" — Speech  Supporting  McAdoo — "Oil" 
— His  Man  Defeated — Back  to  Miami. 

For  Bryan,  the  years  between  his  resignation  as  Secretary  of 
State  and  the  opening  of  the  1920  Democratic  convention  in  San 
Francisco  marked  the  decline  of  his  hitherto  tremendous  sway  over 
the  destinies  of  his  party.  He  was  one  of  the  most  notable  figures 
at  the  San  Francisco  convention  and  at  the  New  York  convention 
of  1924;  at  both  conclaves  he  was  a  storm  center,  eloquent  as  ever, 
fighting  as  earnestly.  But  the  old  power  that  had  won  him  the 
affectionate  title  of  the  Peerless  Leader  was  definitely  gone. 

First,  his  interest  in  social  reforms;  and  next,  his  increasing 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  religion,  were  occupying  more  and  more 
of  his  time  and  were  engaging  more  and  more  of  his  activity. 
Though  he  remained  to  the  end,  ever  a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with 
in  the  political  life  of  the  country,  yet  his  heart  was  not  in  politics 
as  it  had  been  from  the  early  years  out  in  Nebraska  until  his  break 
with  President  Wilson  caused  him  to  resign  from  the  cabinet. 

The  first  month  of  1920  saw  the  gulf  between  the  Democratic 
War  President  and  his  former  Secretary  of  State  grow  still  wider. 
The  disagreement  grew  out  of  the  fight  between  Wilson  and  the 
Senate  over  the  ratification  of  the  peace  treaty  and  its  league  of 
nations  covenant.  President  Wilson,  of  course,  was  insisting  that 
the  treaty  be  ratified  without  any  essential  change  and  he  desired 
that  the  issue  be  determined  by  popular  vote. 

325 


326  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

In  the  President's  stand  Bryan  saw  a  great  danger  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  He  believed  that  the  President's  refusal  to  accept  any 
compromise  was  placing  the  party  in  the  position  of  opposing  a 
popular  sentiment  which  called  for  acceptance  of  the  treaty  with 
reservations. 

On  Jackson  Day,  January  8,  the  break  was  made  plain.  Twin 
dinners  of  celebration  were  being  held  in  Washington,  one  at  the 
Willard  and  the  other  at  the  Washington  hotel.  A  letter  from 
President  Wilson  was  read  to  the  Democratic  leaders  at  each  of  the 
dinners.  It  called  again  for  immediate  ratification;  it  condemned 
again  the  reservations  to  the  treaty  advocated  by  Senator  Lodge; 
and  it  called  for  a  reference  of  the  issue  to  the  people  in  the  coming 
Presidential  election. 

Over  at  the  Washington  hotel,  Bryan  was  pleading  just  the 
opposite  view.  He  came  out  openly  for  a  compromise  on  the  reser- 
vations and  asserted  that  the  Democratic  party  would  meet  disaster 
did  they  appeal  to  the  people  on  a  platform  of  unqualified  ratifica- 
tion. As  Wilson  had  condemned  the  Lodge  reservations,  so  Bryan 
condemned  Wilson's  Article  X.  To  all  intents  he  advised  surrender 
to  the  Republican  anti-administration  faction.  His  plea  came  before 
the  reading  of  the  Wilson  letter  at  the  banquet  he  attended.  It  was 
not  cordially  received.  Stony  silence  greeted  it  on  the  part  of  most 
of  his  hearers.    Wilson's  letter  they  received  with  cheers. 

Bryan's  speech  shocked  them  with  its  boldness.  He  spoke  as 
follows : 

"Seldom  has  such  an  opportunity  for  great  service  come  to  any 
party  as  now  presents  itself  to  our  party.  But  opportunity  brings 
responsibility.  Much  is  required  of  those  to  whom  much  is  given. 
A  soldier  is  a  soldier  until  his  day  of  opportunity  comes — after  that 
he  is  either  a  hero  or  a  coward. 

"So  with  the  party;   opportunities   improved  become  stepping 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  327 

stones  to  success;  opportunities  neglected  are  millstones  about  the 
party's  neck. 

"The  opportunities  now  offered  are  as  large  as  the  nation  and 
as  wide  as  the  world.  In  this  hour,  when  we  take  counsel  together 
for  the  coming  campaign,  it  is  the  duty  of  each  member  of  the 
party,  as  I  take  it,  to  present  the  situation  as  he  sees  it,  without 
stopping  to  inquire  whether  his  views  are  shared  by  others. 

"One  can  not  call  a  mass  meeting  to  determine  what  to  think; 
the  theory  of  democracy  is  that  all  think  and  give  expression  to 
their  thought,  and  then  conclusions  are  reached  by  comparison  of 
views. 

"Permit  me,  therefore,  to  present  the  more  important  of  these 
opportunities  as  I  see  them.  The  nations  are  entering  upon  a  new 
era;  old  systems  are  passing  away;  democracy  is  dawning  every- 
where. 

"Our  nation  is  the  only  great  nation  in  a  position  to  furnish  the 
moral  leadership  required.  The  nations  of  Europe  are  busy  with 
their  own  problems;  our  people  are  the  only  ones  disinterested 
enough  to  be  trusted  by  all,  and  the  Democratic  party  is  the  party 
whose  ideas  best  fit  it  for  the  task  of  leadership  in  such  a  work. 

"A  Democratic  President  was  the  spokesman  of  the  United 
States  in  holding  out  to  a  war-worn  world  the  hope  of  universal 
peace,  and  he  brought  back  from  Paris  the  covenant  of  a  league  of 
nations  that  provides  means  for  settling  international  disputes  with- 
out a  resort  to  force.  He  did  the  best  he  could,  and  succeeded  better 
than  we  had  any  right  to  expect,  when  we  remember  that  he  fought 
single-handed  against  the  selfish  interests  of  the  world. 

"The  Republican  party,  in  control  of  the  Senate,  instead  of 
ratifying  at  once,  or  promptly  proposing  changes  that  it  deemed 
necessary,  has  fiddled  while  civilization  has  been  threatened  with 
conflagration.     It  could  have  adopted  its  reservations  as  well  five 


328  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

months  ago  as  later,  but  it  permitted  endless  debate  while  suffering 
humanity  waited. 

'The  Democratic  Senators  stood  with  their  President  for  ratifi- 
cation without  reservation,  and  I  stood  with  them,  believing  that  it 
was  better  to  secure  within  the  league,  after  it  was  established,  any 
necessary  changes,  than  to  attempt  to  secure  them  by  reservations 
in  the  ratifying  resolutions. 

"But  our  plan  has  been  rejected,  and  we  must  face  the  situation 
as  it  is.  We  must  either  secure  such  compromises  as  may  be  pos- 
sible, or  present  the  issue  to  the  country.  The  latter  course  would 
mean  a  delay  of  at  least  fourteen  months,  and  then  success  only  in 
case  of  our  securing  a  two-thirds  majority  in  the  senate. 

"We  cannot  afford,  either  as  citizens  or  as  members  of  the  party, 
to  share  with  the  Republican  party  responsibility  for  further  delay; 
we  can  not  go  before  the  country  on  the  issue  that  such  an  appeal 
would  present. 

"The  Republicans  have  a  majority  in  the  Senate  and  therefore 
can,  by  right,  dictate  the  Senate's  course.  Being  in  the  minority,  we 
cannot  demand  the  right  to  decide  the  terms  upon  which  the  Senate 
will  consent  to  ratification. 

"Our  nation  has  spent  100,000  precious  lives  and  more  than 
$20,000,000,000  to  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy,  and  the  one 
fundamental  principle  of  democracy  is  the  right  of  the  majority  to 
rule.  It  applies  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  Hbuse  as  well  as  to  the 
people. 

"According  to  the  Constitution,  a  treaty  is  ratified  by  a  two-thirds 
vote,  but  the  Democratic  party  can  not  afford  to  take  advantage  of 
the  constitutional  right  of  a  minority  to  prevent  ratification.  A 
majority  of  Congress  can  declare  war.  Shall  we  make  it  more 
difficult  to  conclude  a  treaty  than  to  enter  a  war? 

"Neither  can  we  go  before  the  country  on  the  issue  raised  by 
Article  X.     If  we  do  not  intend  to  impair  the  right  of  Congress 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  329 

to  decide  the  question  of  peace  or  war  when  the  time  for  action 
arises,  how  can  we  insist  upon  a  moral  obligation  to  go  to  war  which 
can  have  no  force  or  value  except  as  it  does  impair  the  independence 
of  Congress?  We  owe  it  to  the  world  to  join  in  an  honest  effort 
to  put  an  end  to  war  forever,  and  that  effort  should  be  made  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment. 

"A  Democratic  party  can  not  be  a  party  of  negation;  it  must 
have  a  constructive  program.  It  must  not  only  favor  a  league  of 
nations,  but  it  must  have  a  plan  for  the  election  of  delegates  and  a 
policy  to  be  pursued  by  those  delegates. 

"What  plan  can  a  Democratic  party  have  other  than  one  that 
contemplates  the  popular  election  of  those  delegates  who,  in  the 
influence  they  will  exert,  will  be  next  in  importance  to  the  Presi- 
dent himself? 

"And  what  policy  can  the  Democratic  party  have  within  the 
league  of  nations  other  than  one  of  absolute  independence  and  im- 
partiality between  the  members  of  the  league? 

"Our  nation's  voice  should  at  all  times  be  raised  in  behalf  of 
equal  and  exact  justice  between  nations  as  the  only  basis  of  per- 
manent peace;  it  should  be  raised  in  defense  of  the  right  of  self- 
determination  and  in  proclaiming  a  spirit  of  brotherhood  as  uni- 
versal as  the  peace  which  we  advocate. 

"We  have  domestic  problems,  also,  which  offer  an  opportunity 
to  render  large  service,  and  one  objection  to  thrusting  the  treaty 
into  the  campaign  is  that  it  would  divert  attention  from  questions 
demanding  immediate  consideration     .     .     ." 

So  the  San  Francisco  convention  opened  on  June  28  with  the 
league  issue  the  paramount  one;  with  prohibition  added  to  lend 
still  more  ground  for  discord;  and  with  Bryan,  as  usual,  a  focal 
point  in  the  battle.  He  may  not  have  been  a  candidate,  but  probably 
he  was  the  most  talked  of  man  at  the  convention. 


330  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

On  a  piece  of  scratch  paper,  with  a  pencil,  he  wrote  fifty-nine 
words  that  were  to  throw  the  convention  into  a  furore : 

"We  heartily  congratulate  the  Democratic  party  on  its  splendid 
leadership  in  the  submission  and  ratification  of  the  prohibition 
amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  and  we  pledge  the  party 
to  the  effective  enforcement  of  the  Volstead  law  honestly  and  in  good 
faith,  without  any  increase  in  the  alcoholic  content  of  permitted 
beverages,  and  without  any  weakening  of  its  other  provisions." 

His  hotel  suite,  the  day  before  the  convention  opened,  was  al- 
ways crowded.  The  management  had  to  place  a  long  row  of  chairs 
in  the  corridor  outside  his  door  to  accommodate  those  who  wished 
to  wait  to  see  him.    It  was  almost  like  the  old  days  over  again. 

But  his  high  spirits  were  to  be  short-lived.  As  a  delegate  from 
Nebraska  he  had  a  place  on  the  resolutions  committee  and  it  was 
here  that  he  received  his  first  blow.  His  substitute  for  the  Wilson- 
ian  league  of  nations  plank  of  the  platform  was  rejected  by  a  large 
majority. 

Bryan  pleaded  eloquently  before  the  committee. 

"The  adoption  of  my  plank  will  not  mean  a  repudiation  of  the 
President,"  he  was  reported  to  have  said.  "It  will  open  the  peace 
of  the  world,  will  give  Mr.  Wilson  the  opportunity  to  direct  the 
first  participation  of  the  United  States  in  the  league  of  nations,  and 
make  him  for  the  remainder  of  his  term  the  moral  leader  of  the 
world." 

But  his  argument  was  of  no  avail.  The  "Virginia  plank,"  calling 
for  ratification  of  the  treaty  without  nullifying  reservations  and  the 
declaration  that  "honor  and  integrity  are  dependent  upon  America's 
participation  in  the  league,"  was  adopted.  The  defeat  of  Bryan's 
plank  followed,  after  a  stormy  session  on  the  floor  of  the  convention. 

Bryan  offered  four  amendments  to  the  platform,  but  all  were 
rejected  by  the  delegates.  His  proposed  dry  plank  was  snowed 
under  by  a  vote  of  929j^  against,  to  155j^  for.    He  proposed  an 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  331 

amendment  calling  for  an  anti-profiteering  plank,  one  providing 
for  a  declaration  against  universal  military  training,  and  one  de- 
manding the  creation  of  an  industrial  board,  patterned  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  Bryan  treaties,  to  settle  labor  disputes.  But  these  last 
three,  also  were  rejected. 

Bryan  was  at  his  best  when  he  took  the  platform  to  defend  his 
dry  plank.     He  flayed  the  liquor  interests. 

"The  eighteenth  amendment  is  in  the  Constitution  to  stay/'  he 
cried.  "The  liquor  traffic  is  dead.  It  is  a  corpse  and  decency  re- 
quires the  corpse  be  covered  up,  buried.  I  thank  God  a  Democratic 
convention  has  courage  as  well  as  prinicple.  They  are  dead  that 
sought  the  young  child's  life." 

Bourke  Cockran  followed,  to  defend  his  plank  calling  for  modi- 
fication of  the  Volstead  act.  It  was  a  masterful  speech.  Bryan 
sat  smiling  as  he  in  turn  was  lambasted.  After  the  vote  was  over, 
turning  down  both  his  amendment  and  Cockran's,  someone  asked 
Bryan  how  he  felt. 

"Pretty  well  for  a  mangled  corpse,"  was  his  reply. 

James  M.  Cox,  governor  of  Ohio,  was  finally  nominated  as 
Democratic  candidate  for  President.  While  the  bands  still  were 
playing  and  the  people  cheering,  Bryan  walked  from  the  conven- 
tion hall. 

"My  heart  is  in  the  grave  with  our  cause,"  he  said,  "and  I 
must  pause  until  it  comes  back  to  me.  The  nomination  of  Cox 
cannot  be  interpreted  in  any  other  way  than  a  victory  for  the  wets, 
although  of  course  there  were  other  forces  behind  him." 

For  the  first  time,  he  failed  to  do  any  stumping  for  his  party's 
presidential  candidate.  The  reason  for  his  action,  he  said,  was 
that  he  did  not  agree  with  Cox  on  many  issues  and  he  did  not 
want  to  debate  with  the  candidate  of  his  own  party,  who  was 
finally  defeated  by  Warren  G.  Harding. 

During  the  interim  between  the  convention  of   1920  and  that 


332  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

of  1924,  Bryan  turned  still  further  away  from  active  politics,  de- 
voted more  of  his  time  to  lecturing,  and  took  a  greater  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  In  1923  he  was  defeated 
for  moderator  of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  after  an 
exciting  contest,  but  he  was  elected  vice-moderator  at  the  Assembly 
of  1924. 

He  had  established  his  legal  residence  in  Miami,  Fla.,  so  when 
the  convention  of  1924  came  around,  he  was  sent  to  New  York  as 
a  delegate  from  the  Palmetto  State.  Again  he  was  a  member  of 
the  resolutions  committee  that  fought  and  wrangled  over  the  issue 
of  whether  or  not  to  bring  the  name  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  into  the 
party  platform.  During  one  meeting  of  the  committee  when  the  Klan 
issue  was  under  discussion  Bryan  dropped  to  his  knees  and  urged 
his  fellow  members  to  join  him  in  prayer  that  they  might  be 
guided  aright.  He  vigorously  opposed  bringing  the  name  of  the 
Klan  into  the  resolution;  he  demanded  that  the  "three  menacing 
words"  of  its  title  be  kept  out. 

He  was  reminded  by  a  delegate  from  Brooklyn  that  there  had 
been  three  menacing  words  in  his  own  platform  of  1896 — "sixteen 
to  one." 

"That's  too  long  past  to  be  brought  against  me  now,"  Bryan  re- 
plied, smiling.     "There  is  a  statute  of  limitations  even  in  politics." 

Probably  one  of  the  most  famous  of  Bryan's  public  prayers, 
to  become  known  as  the  "Daybreak  Prayer,"  was  offered  by  him 
while  the  Klan  issue  was  still  before  the  resolutions  committee.  The 
committee  met  on  a  Friday  night  to  take  up  this  question,  which  had 
been  left  to  the  last.  Member  after  member  spoke;  there  was  bit- 
terness and  antagonism,  and  it  cropped  out  at  the  slightest  excuse. 

Bryan  was  acting  chairman.  Judge  John  H.  McCann  of  Penn- 
sylvania made  a  speech  attempting  to  soften  the  attitude  of  the 
members.  The  meeting  lasted  late.  It  was  six  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing before  the  committee  was  ready  to  call  a  halt.     Bryan  spoke 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  333 

to  Judge  McCann;  the  judge,  he  remarked,  was  a  Catholic;  he  was 
a  Protestant.  Bryan  suggested  that  the  two  of  them  close  the 
session  with  prayer.  While  all  stood,  Judge  McCann  recited  the 
Lord's  prayer.     Bryan  followed  with  this  prayer  of  his  own: 

"Our  Heavenly  Father,  we  come  into  Thy  presence  conscious 
that  Thou  art  infinite  in  wisdom,  love  and  power,  while  we  are 
limited  in  knowledge  and  prone  to  err. 

"Thou  dost  care  for  Thy  children,  and  hast  promised  to  reveal 
Thyself  and  Thy  will  to  those  whose  hearts  are  open  to  Divine 
suggestion. 

"We  need  Thy  counsel,  Lord.  We  are  carrying  great  responsi- 
bilities and  dealing  with  mighty  problems  that  vex  and  trouble  us. 
We  are  subject  to  prejudice  and  passion  and  unconscious  bias. 

"Cleanse  our  minds  from  all  unworthy  thoughts  and  purge  our 
hearts  of  all  evil  desires.  Show  us  Thy  way,  and  help  us  to  know 
what  Thou  would'st  have  us  say  and  do  and  be. 

"We  would  consecrate  ourselves  wholly  unto  Thee  and  Thy  serv- 
ice. 'Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done,  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
Heaven.' 

"Help  us  to  advance  in  our  day  and  this  day  the  brotherhood 
Thou  didst  establish.    May  it  include  all  mankind. 

"So  guide  and  direct  us  in  our  work  today  that  the  people  of 
our  party  and  of  our  country  and  of  the  world  may  be  better  for 
our  coming  together  in  this  convention  and  in  this  committee. 

"Bless  us,  not  for  ourselves,  but  that  we  may  be  a  blessing. 
We  ask  in  Jesus'  name.    Amen." 

Throughout  the  struggle  over  the  Klan  issue,  after  it  had  been 
brought  onto  the  floor  of  the  convention,  Bryan  sought  for  com- 
promise and  harmony.  On  the  famous  day  back  in  '96  he  had  issued 
a  challenge  to  battle ;  in  New  York  he  issued  a  call  for  peace.  His 
influence  resulted  finally  in  the  decision  of  the  convention  to  keep 
the  "three  menacing  words"  out  of  the  platform.    Bryan,  it  is  to  be 


334  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

understood,  did  not  support  the  Klan,  but  he  believed  that  nothing 
but  disharmony  and  bitter  feeling  could  result  from  making  mention 
of  that  organization,  or  any  other  specific  organization,  in  the 
platform. 

The  Democratic  convention  of  1924  will  go  down  in  history  be- 
cause of  the  terrifically  long  drawn  out  deadlock  which  lasted  until 
the  103rd  ballot  and  the  nomination  of  John  W.  Davis  of  West 
Virginia.  Throughout  most  of  the  fight,  it  was  a  struggle  between 
William  G.  McAdoo  of  California  and  Governor  Al  Smith  of  New 
York.  Bryan  was  supporting  McAdoo.  It  was  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  thirty-eighth  ballot  that  he  was  granted  permission  to  ex- 
plain his  vote  and  he  took  the  rostrum. 

The  scene  that  followed  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ever 
staged  at  any  convention.  It  was  one  of  the  most  riotous.  Bryan 
began : 

"Mr.  Chairman,  members  of  the  convention,  I  greatly  appre- 
ciate the  privilege  you  have  accorded  me,  and  I  hope  when  I  am 
through  you  will  feel  that  I  have  improved  the  time  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Democratic  party.  I  have  only  one  desire,  and  that  is  that 
we  shall  win  this  next  election,  and  I  only  desire  that  because  I  see 
no  other  hope  for  the  nation  except  in  the  victory  of  the  Democratic 
party. 

"We  have  met  here  as  representatives  of  the  party  in  the  entire 
nation  and  no  one  who  is  accustomed  to  national  conventions  will 
fail  to  appreciate  the  wisdom  of  bringing  together  representatives 
of  the  party  from  all  the  states  and  territories. 

"All  of  us  are  liable  to  be  influenced  by  environment.  Man's 
ideal  of  what  is  to  be  is  half  and  half  environment.  No  one  can 
listen  to  the  earnest  plea  made  in  behalf  of  different  candidates 
without  realizing  how  much  acquaintance  with  life  and  record  has 
to  do  with  the  formation  of  opinion;  and  as  I  have  listened  to  the 
pleadings  of  the  friends  of  the  various  candidates  I  have  felt  that 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  335 

possibly  if  we  could  have  a  campaign  long  enough  for  every  voter 
to  get  as  well  acquainted  with  the  proposed  candidate  as  those 
who  advocate  him,  it  would  be  easier  to  make  a  selection  and  come 
to  an  agreement. 

"I  do  not  claim  any  advantage  over  any  one  else.  I  am  one  in  a 
thousand  and  ninety-eight  delegates,  one  in  twelve  of  the  Demo- 
crats of  Florida,  and  I  ask  no  one  to  accept  my  opinion  on  my  au- 
thority. I  only  ask  that  they  consider  the  reasons  that  have  led  me 
to  the  conclusions  that  I  have  reached,  and  give  to  those  reasons 
such  weight  as  each  one  may  think  that  they  deserve. 

"I  think  that  is  the  spirit  in  which  we  all  should  meet,  and  with 
this  introduction  I  want  to  submit  a  word  in  regard  to  a  number  of 
candidates,  not  in  criticism,  for  I  shall  not  mention  any  candidates 
whom  I  would  have  to  criticize.  I  only  want  to  speak  of  some  whom 
I  would  be  glad  to  commend,  and  when  I  have  done  that,  I  want 
to  speak  of  something  more  important  than  candidates.  I  want  to 
get  the  lesser  things  out  of  the  way  before  I  take  up  the  things  of 
supreme  importance. 

"In  the  first  place  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  the  Democratic 
party  has  candidates  in  abundance.  We  could  call  the  roll  of  states 
and  find  in  every  state  a  Democrat  worthy  to  be  President  of  the 
United  States.  I  have  not  time  to  call  the  roll,  but  if  it  becomes 
necessary  I  will  furnish  the  list,  and  there  will  be  more  than  one 
in  many  of  the  states  who,  in  my  judgment,  would,  with  credit,  fill 
the  White  House. 

"I  am  only  going  to  mention  a  few  and  you  will  understand 
the  reasons  why  I  select  these.  They  are  going  to  be  scattered  over 
the  country.  I  want  to  show  you  how  rich  our  party  is  in  great 
and  worthy  Democrats. 

"We  have  a  man  in  Florida.  He  is  the  president  of  our  state 
university.  His  name  is  Dr.  A.  A.  Murphree.  (Voice:  "We  want 
Smith;  we  want  Smith";  laughter,  applause,  and  cheers.)     He  is  a 


336  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Democratic  scholar  (hisses  and  boos.)  He  is  a  scholarly  Democrat. 
(Voice:   "Never  heard  of  one.") 

"Those  who  have  not  informed  themselves  upon  the  nation's 
great  men  ought  to  be  silent  until  they  have  had  a  chance  to  inform 
themselves.  This  gentleman  lives  way  down  in  Florida,  and  if  any 
of  you  think  that  Florida  is  too  small  to  have  a  President,  I  want 
you  to  know  we  are  bigger  than  Vermont  (Voice:  "What  is  the 
matter  with  Smith?")  and  better  than  Vermont.  He  would  fill  the 
office  with  credit  to  himself  and  with  honor  to  his  party  and  the 
nation. 

"I  mention  him  as  the  first  on  the  list,  and  as  I  travel  north 
from  Florida  to  North  Carolina  I  mention  one  of  the  best  Demo- 
crats in  the  United  States,  Josephus  Daniels.  He  made  a  mag- 
nificent Secretary  of  the  Navy.  He  is  sound  on  every  question,  and 
he  would  grow  every  day  in  the  campaign  as  people  knew  him 
better.    That  is  my  second  man. 

"My  third  is  another  southern  man,  Joseph  Robinson  of  Arkan- 
sas (cheers  and  applause.)  He  is  the  leader  of  the  minority  in  the 
Senate,  a  splendid  leader,  measures  up  to  every  requirement  of  the 
Presidency. 

"Here  are  three  men  from  the  south.  This  is  probably  the  last 
convention  of  my  party  in  which  I  shall  be  a  delegate  (applause), 
and  I  want  my  friends — don't  applaud,  I  may  change  my  mind 
(laughter,  applause,  and  cheers) — I  want  to  pay  back  today  the  debt 
of  gratitude  that  I  owe  to  the  south. 

"I  lived  in  the  north  when  I  was  thrice  nominated  for  the  Presi- 
dency. (A  voice:  "It  will  never  be  again.")  The  south  helped 
to  nominate  me  in  three  campaigns.  The  south  helped  as  far  as 
they  could  in  the  giving  of  electoral  votes.  More  than  that,  the 
south  has  helped  this  nation  secure  every  economic  reform  that 
has  been  secured  in  sixty  years. 

"Some  people  have  said  that  you  cannot  nominate  a  man  from 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  337 

the  south.  I  remind  you  that  we  have  had  two  wars  since  the  Civil 
war,  and  the  sons  of  those  who  wore  the  gray  and  the  sons  of  those 
who  wore  the  blue  marched  side  by  side  and  were  ready  to  die 
together  on  the  battlefield. 

"I  remind  you  that  the  south  furnished  as  many  soldiers  for  the 
late  war  as  it  furnished  to  the  Confederacy.  I  remind  you  that  the 
south  furnished  more  money  to  do  our  part  in  the  world  war  than 
it  furnished  to  the  Confederacy  (A  voice:  "Why  shouldn't  it?"; 
applause.) 

"It  is  time  that  we  should  hush  forever  the  voice  that  would 
exclude  the  south  from  poll  participation  in  our  party's  welfare  and 
in  the  welfare  of  our  nation. 

"The  man  who  says  that  the  north  will  not  vote  for  a  southern 
man  libels  the  north.  I  call  you  to  witness  that  Kansas,  which  pos- 
sibly has  a  larger  percentage  of  ex-Union  soldiers  in  it  in  proportion 
to  population  than  any  state  of  the  Union,  elected  as  a  governor 
of  that  state  Senator  Harris,  who  went  from  Virginia  to  Kansas, 
and  who  was  a  Confederate  soldier  before  he  went  to  Kansas  from 
Virginia. 

"What  Kansas  has  done  any  other  state  would  do.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  seconding  the  nomination  of  an  ex-Confederate  soldier 
twenty  years  ago  in  our  national  convention.  I  believed  then  that 
he  would  poll  as  many  votes  as  an  ex-Confederate  soldier  as  he 
would  have  polled  if  he  had  lived  in  a  state  farther  north.  I  believe 
it  today. 

"What  this  nation  wants  is  a  man  whose  heart  beats  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  common  people,  and  we  don't  care  where  he  was 
born  or  where  he  lives. 

"I  mentioned  three  southern  men,  and  now  I  want  to  mention 
some  northern  men.  (A  voice:  "Don't  forget  New  Jersey."  An- 
other voice:  "What  is  the  matter  with  Underwood?"  Another 
voice:   "He's  all  right.") 


338  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"My  first  northern  man  is  Samuel  Ralston  of  Indiana.  He  is  a 
Democrat.  He  is  a  progressive  Democrat.  He  has  a  noble  record  of 
work  done  for  his  state  and  for  his  nation  through  the  Democratic 
party. 

"My  next  man  from  the  north  is  E.  T.  Meredith  of  Iowa.  He 
was  in  the  President's  cabinet.  He  has  been  long  identified  with 
agriculture,  and  he  knows  the  farmers'  needs.  The  farmers  con- 
stitute the  largest  group  of  our  population,  some  29  per  cent,  and 
they  are  the  ones  who  are  in  most  distress  today.  Their  condition 
presents  its  piteous  appeal  to  the  nation  and  the  Democratic  party 
has  tried  to  answer  that  appeal. 

"If  you  will  pardon  me,  my  next  northern  man  has  the  mis- 
fortune to  be  my  brother.  (Laughter  and  applause  and  boos.)  But 
you  need  not  take  my  word  for  it;  take  the  50,000  majority  they 
gave  him  in  Nebraska,  which  is  better  testimony  than  my  word. 

"Take  his  record.  Has  he  protected  the  people  from  the  ex- 
tortion of  the  gasoline  monopoly  and  from  the  extortion  of  those 
who  control  the  coal  supply  of  Nebraska?  Take  the  verdict 
rendered  in  his  favor  at  the  last  primary,  82  per  cent  of  the  votes 
cast  at  the  primary,  the  Democratic  primary,  and  78  per  cent  of  the 
votes  cast  at  the  primary  of  the  independent  party  in  that  state. 

"And  then  I  go  to  the  northwest,  and  I  mention  the  name  of  a 
man  from  Montana,  Thomas  J.  Walsh.  He  is  your  presiding  officer. 
As  a  lawyer  he  has  no  superior,  as  a  stateman  he  has  few  equals, 
and  as  an  investigator  he  is  above  them  all. 

"Under  his  leadership  more  gigantic  corruption  has  been  dis- 
closed than  in  any  previous  investigation.  He  raised  the  lid  and 
let  the  American  people  see  how  the  Republican  machine  worked 
when  well  oiled.    (Cries  of  "McAdoo!    McAdoo!") 

"And  out  of  that  investigation  is  going  to  come  one  priceless 
benefit  to  our  nation.  We  have  for  a  generation  been  trying  to 
show  the  Republicans  that  these  men  who  contribute  large  sums 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  339 

do  not  contribute  for  patriotic  purposes,  but  that  they  are  buying 
government  favors  at  public  auction;  that  by  large  campaign  con- 
tributions they  purchase  legislative  privileges  and  administrative  im- 
munity ;  and  as  a  result  of  this  investigation  we  are  going  to  purify 
American  politics  and  make  it  decent  again.  And  T.  J.  Walsh  will 
deserve  more  credit  than  any  for  the  facts  that  make  this  possible. 

"I  have  given  you  names  of  Democrats — (Voices:  "Name  the 
real  one  you  have  got  in  mind."  "Atta  boy!"  "What's  the  matter 
with  Smith?") 

"Do  not  rush  me,  my  friends.  (Voices:  "McAdoo!  McAdoo!") 
Give  me  time  to  develop  my  subject  in  my  own  way.  I  shall  not 
disappoint  you  when  I  am  through. 

"My  friends,  I  commenced  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  United 
States,  and  I  cross  the  nation  to  the  northwest  corner  and  give  you 
men  in  these  different  sections.  If  you  have  any  preference  about 
sections,  take  your  choice.  (A  voice:  "How  about  Connecticut?") 
I  could  commence  in  the  northeast  and  go  to  the  southwest,  and 
from  the  west  and  go  east,  and  from  the  north  and  go  south,  and, 
if  it  is  necessary,  I  will  furnish  you  a  list  that  will  keep  you  voting 
until  the  next  presidential  campaign. 

"But,  my  friends,  I  now  want  to  present  a  brief  argument  for 
one  who,  I  think,  fits  into  this  occasion,  and  I  will  tell  you  why.  It 
is  necessary  that  we  shall  make  a  progressive  fight.  We  are  chal- 
lenged, and  we  cannot  decline  the  challenge;  and  if  they  had  not 
challenged  us,  we  would  have  challenged  them,  for  that  is  the  issue 
that  must  be  satisfied. 

"I  think  it  is  necessary  also  that  our  candidate  shall  be  a  man 
whose  record  on  the  liquor  question  is  such  that  every  mother  will 
know  that  every  home  will  be  protected.  I  have  given  you  the  names 
of  men  whose  position  will  not  be  questioned  on  the  matter  of  law 
enforcement,  and  there  must  be  no  question  as  to  our  candidate's 
position  on  the  great  progressive  issue. 


340  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"The  last  Congress  was  the  most  progressive  Congress  we  have 
had  in  years,  and  the  Democratic  party  in  that  Congress  made  the 
most  progressive  record  that  the  Democratic  party  has  made  since 
I  have  been  acquainted  with  politics  (Applause),  and  my  acquaint- 
ance runs  back  many  years. 

"And,  therefore,  to  fit  our  party's  sentiment,  to  fit  our  party's 
record,  to  fit  our  party's  platform,  and  to  appeal  to  the  only  votes 
that  we  have  any  chance  of  securing,  our  candidate  must  be  a 
progressive.     (Cries  of  "Senator  Walsh!") 

"My  friends,  if  we  intend  to  nominate  a  reactionary,  which  I 
consider  impossible  in  this  convention,  he  could  not  draw  Re- 
publican reactionaries  from  the  Republican  party.  He  could  not 
even  hold  reactionary  Democrats  away  from  the  Republican  ticket. 
We  have  tried  it  before.  We  have  allowed  them  to  select  a  reac- 
tionary, and,  after  having  disgraced  us,  they  have  deserted  us  on 
election  day ;  and  this  year  they  shall  not  take  us  up  on  the  mountain 
and  promise  us  land  that  they  don't  own  and  can't  deliver. 

"I  have  mentioned  men  who,  I  think,  would  fit  into  our  plat- 
form, and  now  I  mention  one  who  has  made  it  possible  for  us  to 
have  a  progressive  platform  and  nominate  a  progressive  candidate. 
(A  voice:  "Name  yourself.") 

"If  he  had  not  made  the  fight  we  would  not  have  a  progressive 
convention  today  and  we  could  not  nominate  a  progressive  candidate. 
But  because  of  his  courageous  leadership,  we  have  a  progressive 
convention  in  which  they  cannot  nominate  anything  but  a  progressive 
candidate. 

"The  man  who  is  entitled  to  credit  for  making  possible  a  victory 
this  year,  whether  you  like  him  or  not,  whether  you  nominate 
him  or  not,  but  the  man  who  has  made  possible  the  election  of  a 
progressive  is  William  Gibbs  McAdoo  of  California." 

All  his  life  Bryan  had  been  accustomed  to  addressing  hostile 
audiences.    Never  had  he  faced  one  like  the  one  there  in  New  York 


Underwood  &  Underwood   photo. 


A    Modern  Crusader — Caught   in   the   heat   and   stress   of   the   battle   at 
Dayton,  Tenn.     A  typical  picture  of  Bryan  in  his  last  great  fight. 


P.    &   A.    photo. 


In  the  Pulpit — Crowds  hear  Bryan  preach  in  the  Methodist  church  in 
Dayton,  on  a  Sunday  during  the  Scopes  trial,  July  12,  1925. 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  343 

which  burst  into  a  storm  of  "boos"  and  cries  of  "Oil,  oil,  oil"  at 
the  mention  of  McAdoo's  name.  Cheers  and  applause  mingled  with 
the  derisive  shouts  and  turned  the  convention  hall  into  a  noisier 
bedlam  than  ever. 

"Tell  us  about  Doheny  and  McAdoo  and  oil,"  cried  a  New  Jersey 
delegate.  "Oil,  oil,"  became  a  chant  from  the  galleries.  Chairman 
Walsh  pounded  fruitlessly  for  order.  Through  it  all,  Bryan  leaned 
calmly  over  the  rail  trying  to  catch  the  questions  that  were  being 
hurled  at  him.  Hostile  delegates  were  demanding  what  right  he  had 
to  turn  an  explanation  of  his  vote  into  a  half  hour's  speech.  The 
Commoner's  eyes  flashed  their  old  fire  as  he  engaged  in  colloquy 
with  first  one,  then  another. 

"No  man  who  allows  Wall  street  to  influence  his  action  has 
any  right  to  criticize  McAdoo,  who  cannot  be  bossed  by  Wall  street," 
he  shot  back  at  his  tormentors,  to  an  accompaniment  of  more  cheers 
and  jeers.  Finally,  Bryan  managed  to  make  himself  heard  above 
the  noise,  and  he  brought  his  speech  to  a  close. 

He  finished : 

"We  not  only  have  distress  here  but  we  have  confusion  abroad. 
The  world  looks  to  us.  In  Russia  they  have  a  class  government. 
In  Great  Britain  they  have  a  laboring  man  for  Premier.  In  France 
socialism  is  in  control  and  it  threatens  Germany  and  Italy.  That 
is  the  condition  of  the  old  world.  I  believe  it  has  been  brought 
about  largely  by  the  concentration  of  wealth  that  has  enriched  a 
few  and  has  made  homeless  the  many. 

"When  Lloyd  George  made  his  fight  to  tax  the  landlords,  he 
used  a  sentence  more  powerful  than  any  other  sentence  that  has  been 
used  in  argument  I  believe  in  a  thousand  years,  when  he  said,  'Why 
make  ten  thousand  owners  of  the  soil  and  all  the  rest  trespassers  in 
the  land  of  their  birth?' 

"My  friends,  the  Republican  party  has  been  granting  privileges 
and  favors.     It  gave  one  hundred  millions  to  Doheny,  about  one 


344  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

hundred  millions  to  Sinclair.  It  tried  to  give  ninety  millions  of  relief 
from  taxation  to  less  than  five  thousand  of  the  biggest  taxpayers, 
and  it  gave  four  hundred  fifty  millions  in  relief  from  taxation  to  the 
profiteers.  It  put  a  burden  of  over  three  billions  on  the  masses 
of  the  people  for  the  benefit  of  protected  interests. 

"Here  are  four  measures  and  if  you  will  add  together  what  they 
take  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  people  and  give  to  the  favored  and 
privileged  ones  who  bought  the  privileges  with  their  campaign  con- 
tributions, you  will  find  the  sum  would  pay  the  President's  salary  for 
36,400  years.  If  they  go  on  distributing  their  favors,  piling  up 
riches  in  the  hands  of  the  few  and  spreading  destitution  among 
the  many,  it  will  not  be  many  generations  until  the  quotation  of 
Lloyd  George  will  be  echoing  throughout  our  land. 

"I  am  glad  we  met  in  New  York.  I  want  our  Democratic  party 
to  appeal  to  the  millionaires  of  New  York  and  tell  them  that  less 
than  half  the  people  who  die  in  the  United  States  leave  enough 
money  to  make  it  worth  while  to  administer  on  their  estates. 
Of  thirty  millions  of  voters,  less  than  one  in  four  have  income 
enough  to  pay  a  tax  on. 

"These  men  of  wealth  ought  to  know,  and  the  Democratic  party 
ought  to  tell  them,  that  it  is  better  to  leave  a  good  government  to 
their  children  than  to  leave  large  fortunes.  (Applause.)  And 
that  is  what  the  Democratic  party  is  prepared  to  do.  We  want  to 
make  this  government  so  good  that  to  be  a  private  citizen  of  the 
United  States  will  be  better  than  to  be  a  king  in  any  other  country 
in  the  world." 

But  the  speech  and  the  turmoil  were  of  no  avail  in  breaking  the 
deadlock.  It  persisted  until  McAdoo's  withdrawal  and  the  nomi- 
nation of  Davis  closed  the  convention. 

The  New  York  convention  was  Bryan's  last  appearance  in 
politics.  His  influence  was  responsible  for  the  nomination  of  his 
brother,  Charles  W.  Bryan  of  Nebraska,  for  Vice-President,  but 


CONVENTIONS  OF  1920  AND  1924  345 

the  Commoner  took  no  greatly  active  part  in  the  campaign  that  fol- 
lowed and  which  ended  in  Coolidge's  election.  Bryan  returned  to 
his  Florida  home,  to  spend  his  time  in  lecturing,  in  the  teaching  of 
the  Bible  class  of  which  he  was  so  fond,  and  in  carrying  on  the  cam- 
paign against  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  which  was  to  reach  its  crisis 
in  the  Scopes  trial,  and  end  with  the  tragedy  of  his  death  in 
Dayton,  Tenn. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


"Faith  of  Our  Fathers 


55 


Defense  of  the  Bible  and  Tennessee  Anti-Evolution  Law — Arrival 
In  Dayton — Plans  Scopes  Prosecution — Champion  of  Tennessee 
Folk — In  Court — Speech  Against  Admission  of  the  Defense  Scien- 
tific Testimony. 

Down  in  the  little  Tennessee  town  of  Dayton,  hidden  in  a 
valley  among  the  hazy  blue  slopes  of  the  Cumberlands,  William 
Jennings  Bryan  achieved  the  acme  of  his  career.  In  the  prosecu- 
tion of  John  Thomas  Scopes,  the  Dayton  teacher,  for  breach  of 
Tennessee's  anti-evolution  law,  the  Great  Commoner  in  three 
departments  of  his  nature  found  the  fullness  of  life. 

It  was  the  pinnacle  of  his  physical  being;  for  he  was  to  die 
there  in  the  little  town  a  few  days  after  the  trial  closed.  It  was 
the  superlative  in  his  public  life;  for  never  before  during  his 
career  had  he  had  so  large,  or  so  keenly  interested,  an  audience. 

Above  all,  it  was  the  utmost  reach  of  the  inner  life  of  the  man 
himself.  For  during  those  few  weeks,  spent  in  the  preparation 
and  trial  of  the  case,  were  crystallized  and  expressed  all  the 
ideals  of  this  man  who  was  famed  as  a  politician,  statesman, 
orator,  and  commoner,  but  the  fundamental  of  whose  life  was 
his  religious  faith. 

Never,  in  a  long  life  marked  with  attack  after  attack,  was 
Bryan  such  a  target  for  those  who  disagreed  with  him  as  he  was 
during  the  Scopes  trial.  Politics  never  barbed  the  shafts  of  his 
opponents  as  did  this  great  religious  controversy.  Free  silver, 
or  his  stand  during  the  war,  never  brought  forth  such  an  on- 
slaught of  bitterness  and  ridicule  as  did  his  stand  in  Tennessee, 
for  revealed  religion  against  the  hosts  of  science  in  whom  he  saw 

346 


"FAITH  OF  OUR  FATHERS"  347 

the  army  of  an  unbelief  that  would  surely  wreck  civilization. 

At  the  same  time,  never  before  in  a  career  of  leadership  had 
he  been  so  much  the  champion  of  those  who  found  in  him  a 
personification  of  their  beliefs.  When  he  spoke  in  the  packed 
courtroom  against  Darrow  and  Malone  and  Hays  he  spoke  with 
the  voices  of  millions  of  fundamental  religionists  behind  him. 

It  was  the  logical  outcome  of  his  life,  this  participation  in  the 
trial  of  religion  versus  science.  From  Bryan,  the  religious  orator, 
to  Bryan,  the  religious  prosecutor,  was  a  natural  step. 

The  future  must  render  the  verdict  in  the  Scopes  trial,  which 
was  but  a  minute  manifestation  of  the  age-old  war  between 
science  and  religion.  Probably  it  will  strike  a  balance  some- 
where between  the  two  great  extremes  represented  at  that  trial. 
By  how  much  were  Darrow  and  his  scientific  experts  wrong;  by 
how  much  was  Bryan  wrong?    Years  of  progress  alone  can  tell. 

His  critics  assailed  Bryan  because  he  was  "ignorant."  He 
was  not  ignorant.  To  understand  him,  one  must  have  been 
on  the  front  porch  of  the  Rogers  home,  where  Bryan  lived  in 
Dayton,  and  have  heard  him  discuss  informally  the  issues  that 
were  at  stake  and  his  belief  in  them. 

"A  reporter  came  to  me,"  he  said,  "saying  that  his  editor 
had  told  him  to  ask  me  whether  I  thought  the  world  was  flat. 
I  told  him  the  question  was  an  insult  and  I  would  not  stand 
for  such  treatment.  No  intelligent  man  believes  such  stuff  as 
that." 

What  his  critics  really  were  assailing  was  a  tendency  to  shut 
his  ears  to  arguments  that,  if  accepted,  might  cause  him  to 
change  his  preconceived  beliefs.  Characteristically,  Bryan  ad- 
mitted no  compromise.  It  was  all  or  nothing  at  all,  as  he  saw  it. 
He  could  not  reconcile  certain  theories  of  science  with  his 
religious  faith,  so  he  disregarded  the  theories.  It  was  a  natural 
thing  to  do,  a  very  human  method.    Those  who  attacked  must 


348  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

remember  that  he  saw  the  foundation,  not  only  of  his  own  life 
but  of  the  life  of  his  nation,  threatened  by  the  teachings  of 
science. 

There  are  a  great  majority  who  disagree  with  his  policy  of 
using  the  legislatures  to  regulate  a  religious  matter.  But  there 
are  none  who  knew  the  man  who  doubt  the  sincerity  and  honesty 
of  his  intentions. 

Scopes  was  indicted  for  teaching  from  Hunter's  "Biology," 
to  children  in  the  Dayton  high  school,  that  man  evolved  from 
a  lower  order  of  animals.  The  Tennessee  anti-evolution  statute 
made  it  a  misdemeanor  to  teach  any  theory  contradicting  the 
Divine  creation  of  man  as  recounted  in  the  Bible. 

Soon  after  the  indictment,  Bryan  announced  that  he  would 
take  part  in  the  prosecution,  representing  the  Christian  Funda- 
mental association.  The  announcement  was  made  before  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Pittsburgh  Presbytery  amid  applauding  cheers. 

"We've  got  a  lot  of  mind  worshipers  in  this  country,"  he 
told  his  hearers.  "There  is  a  shocking  decline  in  the  spiritual 
life  of  our  schools  and  colleges.  On  the  word  of  a  well  known 
scientist,  the  belief  in  a  personal  God  and  a  personal  immortality 
is  dying  out. 

"The  attack  being  made  right  now  upon  those  who  stand 
squarely  for  the  Christian  faith  of  their  fathers  is  not  an  attack 
on  orthodoxy.  It  is  an  attack  on  religion.  Unless  we  can  de- 
fend the  doctrine  that  God  created  man  and  put  him  here  for  a 
purpose  and  sent  Jesus  Christ  here  to  die  for  him,  what's  the 
church  for?  The  church  must  not  be  made  a  social  club.  You 
may  not  applaud  sentiment  like  this,  but  if  you  put  the  hy- 
pothesis of  science  above  the  word  of  God,  I  don't  expect  you 
to  tolerate  me. 

"There  are  about  5,000  scientists,  and  probably  half  of  them 
are  atheists,  in  the  United  States.    Are  we  going  to  allow  them 


"FAITH  OF  OUR  FATHERS"  349 

to  run  our  schools?  We  are  not!  When  we  get  through  with 
this  fight  against  Godless  teaching  in  our  schools  you'll  find 
that  109  million  out  of  the  110  million  people  of  this  country- 
are  going  to  run  the  schools — not  a  handful  of  self-important 
scientists. 

"The  hand  that  writes  the  teacher's  pay  check  is  the  hand 
that  rules  the  schools." 

Bryan's  stand  against  evolution  was  not  a  new  one.  His 
opposition  to  the  theory  found  its  way  into  his  "Prince  of  Peace" 
lecture.  And  back  in  1911  he  talked  against  it  in  interviews 
and  on  the  platform.  In  reply  to  a  question  concerning  his 
opinion  of  evolution,  in  that  year,  he  declared : 

"I  cannot  accept  it.  The  monkey  may  be  an  acceptable 
ancestor  for  some.  I  do  not  find  him  so.  The  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion explains  but  one-third  of  the  problem,  and  that  the  lowest 
of  the  thirds — the  physical." 

In  1920  at  the  class  day  exercises  at  Northwestern  university, 
Bryan  spoke  impromptu  and  asserted: 

"No  teacher  should  be  allowed  on  the  faculty  of  any  American 
university  unless  he  is  a  Christian.  And  where  the  Bible  is  not 
taught,  no  other  philosophy  should  be  substituted." 

The  Tennesee  case  found  him  with  all  his  argument,  all  his 
mastery  of  words,  all  the  fire  of  his  belief,  ready  for  the  crucial 
test. 

A  teacher  accepting  pay  in  dollars  stamped  "In  God  We 
Trust"  should  not  be  permitted  to  teach  the  children  that  there 
is  no  God,  he  declared  as  he  prepared  for  the  struggle. 

"Christians,"  he  said,  "are  compelled  to  build  their  own  col- 
leges in  which  to  teach  Christianity;  why  not  require  atheists 
and  agnostics  to  build  their  own  colleges  if  they  want  to  teach 
atheism  and  agnosticism?" 

Who,  if  not  the  legislatures,  should  have  the  right  to  deter- 


350  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

mine  what  shall  be  taught  in  the  public  schools,  he  asked?  Legis- 
latures fix  punishments  for  crime,  they  regulate  marriage  and 
divorce,  the  descent  of  property,  the  care  of  the  children,  and 
all  other  matters  between  citizens,  he  argued.  Why,  then,  are 
they  not  competent  to  regulate  the  schools? 

For  a  few  weeks  the  Tennessee  town  of  some  two  thousand 
inhabitants  became  a  world  center  of  interest.  Into  Dayton 
flocked  a  hundred  or  more  newspaper  men  from  all  parts  of  the 
country.  Some  came  from  Canada.  Over  the  wires  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  words  were  sent  out  to  papers  all  over  the 
globe.  On  the  day  Bryan  took  the  witness  stand  the  Western 
Union  telegraph  company  reported  that  it  had  handled  more  than 
200,000  words,  and  the  various  press  services  carried  beside  this 
number  some  50,000  more.  London  papers  were  getting  cabled 
dispatches  of  500  to  1,000  words  on  every  eventful  day. 

For  into  the  narrow  confines  of  the  town  among  the  hills 
was  packed  the  drama  of  one  of  the  oldest  conflicts  known  to 
civilized  man.  Acting  on  the  stage  were  actors  whose  names 
were  known  the  world  over.  Listening,  looking  on,  transmitting 
the  news,  was  a  gathering  worthy  of  any  great  national  conven- 
tion. Round  and  about  it  all  was  the  colorful  scenery  of  Ten- 
nessee, its  fertile  valleys  and  wooded  ridges  seamed  with  coal; 
above  all,  its  people,  simple  folk,  sons  and  daughters  of  the  soil, 
for  the  most  part  staunch  believers  in  the  fundamental  faith, 
home  lovers,  jealous  independents,  sprung  from  old  Anglo-Saxon 
pioneering  stock.  Of  book  learning  they  had  little,  these  people ; 
of  belief  in  God  and  His  revealed  word,  they  had  much. 

They  looked  to  Bryan  as  their  spokesman,  and  he  did  not 
disappoint  them.  Those  who  wondered  from  whence  Bryan 
drew  the  support  to  face  the  opposition  he  met  through  life 
had  only  to  watch  these  people,  see  them  crowd  about  him  to 
shake  his  hand,  listen  to  them,  and  hear  their  words  of  awed 


"FAITH  OF  OUR  FATHERS"  351 

praise,  to  understand  that  here  was  a  prophet  and  here,  his 
people. 

He  mixed  with  them  like  one  of  themselves.  They  came  to 
court,  the  men  in  overalls  and  blue  shirts,  the  women  in  plain 
dresses  of  gingham  and  calico.  Bryan  appeared  in  shirtsleeves 
and  often  in  the  hot-weather  shirt  Mrs.  Bryan  had  devised 
for  him,  without  a  collar. 

He  defended  them  against  the  ridicule  of  writers  from  the 
great  cities  who  came  to  scoff  at  them  and  who  called  them 
ignorant  and  yokels. 

"Why  should  the  size  of  the  town  be  a  matter  of  importance 
in  the  trial  of  a  religious  case?"  he  said.  "Christianity  began  in 
a  small  town,  whether  we  date  the  beginning  with  the  birth  of 
Christ  in  Bethlehem  or  with  the  youth  of  Christ,  spent  in  Naz- 
areth. Why  should  not  this  peaceful  community  furnish  a  fitting 
environment  for  the  trial  of  a  case  that  involves  the  two  greatest 
subjects  that  interest  mankind:    Education  and  religion? 

"The  newspaper  critics  who  have  been  making  fun  of  Dayton 
should  read  the  front  page  of  the  book  which  gave  rise  to  this 
trial.  The  biology  which  the  defendant  was  teaching  has  as  its 
frontispiece  a  picture  of  a  crowded  city  street  and  just  below 
it  the  picture  of  a  farm  house  on  a  quiet  country  road.  Beneath 
the  two  pictures  is  a  suggestion  upon  which  the  city  editors 
might  reflect  with  profit.  This  is  the  comment  that  the  author 
of  the  book  makes  upon  the  two  pictures  contrasted :  'Compare 
the  unfavorable,  artificial  environment  of  a  crowded  city  with 
the  more  favorable  environment  of  the  country.' 

"What  is  the  secret  of  the  world's  interest  in  this  little  case?" 

Bryan  asked.     "It  is  found  in  the  fact  that  this  trial  uncovers 

an  attack  which,  for  a  generation,  has  been  made  more  or  less 

secretly  upon  revealed  religion;  that  is,  the  Christian  religion. 

"We  have  no  knowledge  of  it  outside  the  Bible,  which  Chris- 


352  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

tians  regard  as  the  revealed  will  of  God.  The  Bible  is  our  only- 
standard  of  morality.  It  gives  us  our  only  conception  of  God 
and  our  only  knowledge  of  Christ,  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God. 

"Anything  that  attacks  the  Bible  attacks  revealed  religion. 
A  successful  attack  would  destroy  the  Bible  and,  with  it,  revealed 
religion. 

"The  contest  between  evolution  and  Christianity  is  a  duel 
to  the  death.  It  has  been  in  the  past  a  death  grapple  in  the 
dark;  from  this  time  on  it  will  be  a  death  grapple  in  the  light. 
For  this  trial  is  going  to  give  information  or  be  the  means  of 
bringing  out  information  upon  which  this  controversy  will  be 
decided. 

"If  evolution  wins,  Christianity  goes — not  suddenly,  of 
course,  but  gradually,  for  the  two  cannot  stand  together.  They 
are  as  antagonistic  as  light  and  darkness;  as  antagonistic 
as  good  and  evil.  Heretofore  evolution  has  been  like  'the  pesti- 
lence that  walketh  in  darkness.'  Hereafter  it  will  be  'the  destruc- 
tion that  wasteth  at  noonday/ 

"Opponents  of  Christianity  understand  the  character  of  the 
struggle  and  from  henceforward  Christians  will  understand  its 
character.  Christians,  believing  that  revealed  religion  offers 
mankind  the  only  abiding  truth  will  fight  evolution  as  their  only 
great  foe. 

"If  they  are  wrong  they  will,  of  course,  be  defeated  and  be 
compelled  to  abandon  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God. 

"If  information  furnished  at  the  trial,  and  brought  out  after- 
ward because  of  the  trial,  shows  evolution  to  be  unproven  and 
therefore  unworthy  of  acceptance,  science  will  have  to  fall  back 
upon  demonstrated  truth  which  has  no  terrors  for  Christianity. 

"Christianity  is  not  afraid  of  truth,"  Mr.  Bryan  exclaimed. 
"It  only  opposes  hypotheses  put  forth  in  the  name  of  science 
but  unsupported  by  facts." 


"FAITH  OF  OUR  FATHERS"  353 

In  two  Sunday  talks  to  congregations,  during  the  course  of 
the  trial,  the  Commoner  again  defended  the  people  of  the  hills. 

"Christ  today  is  the  leader  of  the  thought  of  the  world,"  he 
declared.  "He  was  unlettered  and  had  no  school  advantages. 
No  scholar  dares  add  a  sentence  to  His  moral  code.  A  dull  brain 
with  a  passion  for  service  is  better  than  a  brilliant  mind  with 
no  such  passion." 

At  his  second  talk  he  assailed  the  correspondents  who  had 
spoken  slightingly  of  the  people  of  Tennessee. 

"These  men  who  come  from  other  states  to  call  you  yokels 
and  bigots,"  he  exclaimed.  "I  wish  I  had  them  here  to  set 
them  face  to  face  with  a  humanity  they  cannot  imitate.  In  the 
end,  every  critic  you  have  will  be  rotted  and  forgotten." 

The  Scopes  trial  began.  Quickly  it  became  apparent,  as 
everyone  had  expected,  that  it  was  to  be,  not  a  suit  at  law,  but 
the  starting  point  for  discussion  of  the  paramount  and  funda- 
mental questions  which  it  involved. 

The  jury  was  chosen;  then  there  was  long  argument  on  the 
constitutionality  of  the  law.  Judge  John  T.  Raulston,  presiding, 
ruled  that  the  statute  was  constitutional. 

With  Bryan  on  the  side  of  the  state  were  Attorney  General 
Tom  Stewart,  technical  head  of  the  prosecution;  Former  Judge 
Ben  McKenzie,  Gordon  McKenzie  and  Herbert  and  Sue  Hicks, 
William  A.  Thompson  and  Bryan's  son,  William  Jennings 
Bryan,  Jr. 

Clarence  Darrow,  defender  of  Leopold  and  Loeb  and  prob- 
ably one  of  the  greatest  defense  lawyers  of  the  country,  was, 
of  course,  the  leader  of  Scopes'  counsel.  With  him  were  At- 
torneys Dudley  Field  Malone  and  Arthur  Garfield  Hays  of  New 
York,  and  Judge  John  Randolph  Neal  of  Knoxville. 

Quickly  it  became  apparent  that  the  contest  was  between 
the  two  great  leaders,  Bryan  and  Darrow.    The  state  put  in  its 


354  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

case.  The  defense  admitted  the  charges,  but  it  sought  to  put  a 
dozen  famous  scientists  on  the  stand  to  show  what  evolution 
was,  and  that  it  could  be  reconciled  with  the  Biblical  story  of 
the  creation. 

Here  the  real  issues  were  joined.  And  here  Bryan  had  his 
chance  to  make  the  first  plea  in  open  court.  He  argued,  of 
course,  that  the  testimony  of  the  scientists  should  not  be  ad- 
mitted. 

Standing  before  the  bar  of  the  court  in  his  shirtsleeves,  he 
pleaded  with  that  silver  tongue  of  his  for  the  outlawry  of  the 
theory  that  attacked  his  faith.  In  the  stifling  heat  the  audience 
listened.  They  crowded  the  seats,  stood  in  the  aisles,  and  over- 
flowed into  the  hall.  In  her  wheel  chair,  white-haired  Mrs. 
Bryan  sat  and  heard  her  husband's  speech. 

"Today  we  come  to  the  discussion  of  a  very  important  part 
of  this  case,"  Bryan  said  in  opening,  "a  question  so  important 
that  upon  its  decision  will  determine  the  length  of  this  trial. 
In  the  first  place,  our  position  is  that  the  statute  is  sufficient. 
The  statute  defines  exactly  what  the  people  of  Tennessee  de- 
sired and  intended  and  did  declare  unlawful,  and  needs  no  in- 
terpretation." 

Mr.  Bryan  then  reviewed  the  evidence  given  by  the  state's 
witnesses.     He  continued: 

"That  is  the  evidence  before  the  court,  and  we  do  not  need 
any  expert  to  tell  us  what  the  law  means.  An  expert  cannot 
be  permitted  to  come  here  and  try  to  defeat  the  enforcement 
of  a  law  by  testifying  that  it  isn't  a  bad  doctrine. 

"The  place  to  prove  that,  or  teach  that,  was  in  the  legislature. 
My  friends,  if  the  people  of  Tennessee  were  to  go  into  New 
York,  the  state  from  which  this  impulse  comes,  to  resist  a  law, 
or  if  they  went  into  any  other  state  and  tried  to  convince  the 
people  that  a  law  they  had  passed  ought  not  to  be  enforced  just 


"FAITH  OF  OUR  FATHERS"  355 

because  the  people  who  went  there  didn't  think  it  ought  to  have 
been  passed,  it  would  be  resented.  Don't  you  think  the  people  of 
this  state  knew  what  they  were  doing  when  they  passed  the 
law  and  knew  the  dangers  of  the  doctrine? 

"They  did  not  want  it  taught  to  their  children,  your  Honor. 
It  isn't  proper  to  bring  experts  in  here  to  try  to  defeat  the  pur- 
pose of  the  people  of  this  state  by  trying  to  show  that  this  thing 
that  they  denounce  is  a  beautiful  thing  that  everybody  ought 
to  believe  in.  It  isn't  a  place  for  expert  testimony.  We  have 
sufficient  proof  in  the  book — doesn't  the  book  state  the  very 
thing  that  is  objected  to,  and  outlawed  in  this  state?  Who  has 
a  copy  of  that  book?" 

The  Court — Do  you  mean  the  Bible? 

Mr.  Bryan — No,  sir;  the  biology. 

A  Voice — Here  it  is,  Hunter's  biology. 

"No,  not  the  Bible,"  Bryan  continued.  "You  see,  in  this 
state  they  cannot  teach  the  Bible.  They  can  only  teach  things 
that  declare  it  to  be  a  lie,  according  to  the  learned  counsel. 

"The  question  is,  can  a  minority  in  this  state  come  in  and 
compel  a  teacher  to  teach  that  the  Bible  is  not  true  and  make 
the  parents  of  those  children  pay  the  expenses  of  the  teacher 
to  tell  their  children  what  these  people  believe  is  false  and 
dangerous?  Has  it  come  to  a  time  when  the  minority  can  take 
charge  of  a  state  like  Tennessee  and  compel  the  majority  to 
pay  their  teachers  while  they  take  religion  out  of  the  hearts  of 
the  children  of  the  parents  who  pay  the  teachers? 

"My  friends,  if  man  and  monkey  were  in  the  same  class 
called  primates  it  would  mean  they  came  up  from  the  same 
order.  It  might  mean  that  instead  of  one  being  the  ancestor 
of  the  other  they  were  all  cousins. 

"The  Christian  believes  that  man  came  from  above.     The 


356  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

evolutionist  believes  he  must  have  come  from  below,  and  that  he 
is  from  a  lower  order  of  animals. 

"Tell  me  that  parents  have  not  the  right  to  declare  that 
children  are  not  to  be  taught  this  doctrine — shall  be  detached 
from  the  throne  of  God  and  be  compelled  to  link  their  ancestors 
with  the  jungles?  Why,  my  friends,  if  they  believe  it,  they  go 
back  to  scoff  at  the  religion  of  their  parents. 

"The  parents  have  a  right  to  say  that  no  teacher  paid  by 
their  money  shall  rob  their  children  of  faith  in  God  and  send 
them  back  to  their  homes,  skeptics,  infidels,  agnostics,  or 
atheists. 

"This  is  the  doctrine  that  they  wish  taught;  this  is  the 
doctrine  that  they  would  force  upon  the  schools,  that  they  will 
not  let  the  Bible  be  read  in." 

Bryan  then  produced  Darwin's  "Descent  of  Man." 

"Evolution  is  not  a  theory,"  he  went  on,  "but  a  hypothesis. 
Huxley  said  it  could  not  become  a  theory  until  they  found  more 
species  that  had  developed  according  to  the  hypothesis,  and  at 
that  time  there  had  never  been  found  a  single  species,  the  origin 
of  which  could  be  traced  to  another  species,  and  it  is  true  today. 

"Never  have  they  traced  one  single  species  to  any  other, 
and  yet  they  call  us  ignoramuses  and  bigots  because  we  do  not 
throw  away  our  Bible  and  accept  evolution  as  proved. 

"They  demand  that  we  allow  them  to  teach  this  stuff  to  our 
children ;  that  they  may  come  home  with  their  imaginary  family 
tree  and  scoff  at  their  mothers'  and  fathers'  Bible. 

"Not  one  of  them  can  tell  you  how  life  began.  The  atheists 
say  it  came  in  some  way  without  a  God;  the  agnostics  say  it 
came  in  some  way,  they  know  not  whether  with  a  God  or  not ; 
and  the  Christian  evolutionists  say  we  came  from  away  back 
there  somewhere,  but  they  do  not  know  how  far  back. 


"FAITH  OF  OUR  FATHERS"  357 

"They  want  to  come  in  with  their  little  padded-up  evolution 
theories  that  commence  with  nothing  and  end  nowhere. 

"They  do  not  deal  with  the  problems  of  life — they  do  not 
teach  the  great  science  of  how  to  live — and  yet  they  would 
undermine  the  faith  of  these  little  children  in  that  God  who 
stands  back  of  everything  and  whose  promise  we  have  that  we 
shall  live  with  Him  forever  by  and  by. 

"They  shut  God  out  of  the  world.  They  do  not  tell  us 
where  immortality  began.  They  did  not  tell  us  wherein  this 
long  period  of  time  between  the  cell  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
and  man  where  man  became  endowed  with  the  hope  of  im- 
mortality. 

"They  want  to  teach  that  to  these  children  and  take  from 
them  their  belief  in  a  God  who  stands  ready  to  welcome  His 
children." 

"Does  the  evolutionary  theory  involve  the  Divine  Birth,  the 
Virgin  Birth?"  asked  the  court. 

It  was  plain  that  the  curiosity  of  Judge  Raulston  had  been 
aroused. 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "because  this  principle  of  evolution 
disputes  the  miracle  and  that  means  they  eliminate  the  Virgin 
Birth — that  means  that  they  eliminate  the  resurrection  of  the 
body. 

"Man,  rising  all  the  time,  never  fell.  He  didn't  need  the 
Savior.  No  reason  for  His  coming.  They  eliminate  belief  in 
the  Savior  and  every  moral  standard  the  Bible  gives  us." 

He  came  to  Nietzsche  and  the  Leopold-Loeb  case.  He  re- 
ferred to  Darrow's  speech  in  this  case,  a  copy  of  which  he  held. 

"Because  Leopold  read  Nietzsche,"  he  said,  "and  adopted  his 
philosophy  as  a  superman,  he  was  not  responsible  for  taking 
human  life.  That's  the  doctrine  they  are  trying  to  bring  in 
here  with  the  evolution  theory." 


358  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

At  this  point  Mr.  Darrow  objected. 

"Not  a  word  of  truth  in  it,"  he  said.  "Nietzsche  never  taught 
evolution.  These  two  people  were  insane.  In  southern  Illinois 
the  other  day  a  clergyman  killed  his  wife.  I  don't  blame  the 
doctrine  of  the  clergyman." 

Bryan  resuming,  read  from  Darrow's  speech  in  the  Loeb 
trial  where  it  referred  to  professors  of  universities  as  responsible 
for  the  murder.  Darrow  said  he  would  read  later  the  rest  of  it, 
explaining  this. 

"Now,"  Bryan  resumed,  "when  it  comes  to  Bible  experts, 
do  they  think  that  they  can  bring  them  in  here  to  instruct  the 
members  of  the  jury,  eleven  of  whom  are  members  of  the 
church?  I  submit  that  of  the  eleven  members  of  the  jury  more 
of  the  jurors  are  experts  on  what  the  Bible  is  than  any  Bible 
expert  who  does  not  subscribe  to  the  true  spiritual  influences 
of  what  our  Bible  says." 

Voices  in  audience,  "Amen!" 

"The  beauty  about  the  word  of  God  is  that  it  does  not  take 
an  expert  to  understand  it.  They  have  translated  that  Bible 
into  five  hundred  languages,  they  have  carried  it  into  nations 
where  but  few  can  read  a  word  or  write,  to  people  who  never 
saw  a  book,  who  never  read,  and  yet  can  understand  that  Bible 
and  they  can  accept  the  salvation  that  that  Bible  offers. 

"They  can  know  more  about  that  book  by  accepting  Jesus 
and  feeling  in  their  hearts  the  sense  of  their  sins  forgiven  than 
all  of  the  skeptical  outside  Bible  experts  that  could  come  in  here. 

"Therefore,  your  honor,  we  believe  that  this  evidence  is  not 
competent.  This  is  not  a  mock  trial.  If  we  must  have  a  mock 
trial  to  give  these  people  a  chance  to  get  before  the  public  with 
their  views,  then  let  us  convene  it  after  this  case  is  over. 

"But  let  this  court,  which  is  here  supported  by  the  law  and 
by  the  taxpayers,  pass  upon  this  law. 


(g  k*.    &    A.    photo. 


Bryan  Is  Dead — Friends  and  neighbors  gather  in  front  of  the  Rogers 

house    in    Dayton,    Tenn.,    to    talk    in    whispers    of    the    tragedy    that 

occurred  July  26,  1925. 


©  P.    &   A.   photo. 

Guard  of  Honor — Members  of  the  Dayton  post  of  the  American  Legion 
stand  guard  on  the  front  porch  of  the  Rogers  house,  where  Bryan  died 
and  where  his  body  lay  in  state.  In  the  center,  Kelso  Rice,  Chattanooga 
policeman,  who  accompanied  the  body  to  Washington  as  special  guard 
at  Mrs.  Bryan's  request. 


"FAITH  OF  OUR  FATHERS"  361 

"We  can  bring  our  experts  here  for  the  Christians,  more 
than  they  can  bring  who  do  not  believe  in  Christianity.  We 
can  bring  more  than  one  who  believes  in  the  Bible  and  rejects 
evolution,  and  our  witnesses  will  be  just  as  good  experts  as 
theirs  on  a  question  of  that  kind. 

"We  could  have  a  thousand  or  a  million  witnesses,  but  this 
case  as  to  whether  evolution  is  true  or  not  is  not  going  to  be 
tried  here ;  if  it  is  carried  to  the  state's  courts  it  will  not  be  tried 
there,  and  if  it  is  taken  to  the  great  court  at  Washington  it 
will  not  be  tried  there. 

"No,  my  friends,  no  court,  and  no  jury,  great  or  small,  is 
going  to  destroy  the  issue  between  the  believer  and  the  un- 
believer. 

"The  Bible  is  the  Word  of  God,  the  Bible  is  the  only  ex- 
pression of  man's  hope  of  salvation.  The  Bible,  the  record  of 
the  son  of  God,  the  saviour  or  the  world,  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  crucified  and  risen  again,  that  Bible  is  not  going  to  be 
driven  out  of  this  court  by  experts  who  come  to  testify  that 
they  can  reconcile  evolution  with  its  ancestors  in  the  jungle, 
with  man  made  by  God  in  His  image  and  put  here  for  purposes 
as  a  part  of  the  Divine  plan. 

"The  facts  are  simple,  the  case  is  plain,  and  if  these  gentle- 
men want  to  enter  upon  a  larger  field  of  educational  work  on 
the  subject  of  evolution,  let  us  get  through  with  this  case  and 
then  convene  a  mock  court,  for  it  will  deserve  the  title  of  mock 
court  if  its  purpose  is  to  banish  from  the  hearts  of  the  people 
the  Word  of  God  as  revealed." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  plea  fundamentalist  and  evolutionist 
broke  into  applause.  Mr.  Malone,  in  a  stirring  speech,  answered 
Bryan,  declaring  that  truth  must  always  and  eventually  prevail. 
Attorney  General  Stewart  closed  the  debate.  After  many  hours 
spent  in  preparing  his  decision,  Judge  Raulston  ruled  that  the 


362  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

experts'  testimony  could  not  go  to  the  jury.    It  was  allowed  to 
go  into  the  record  for  the  higher  courts  in  affidavit  form. 

Disappointed  in  their  hope  to  get  this  testimony  of  scientific 
men  before  the  nation,  the  defense  sprang  a  legal  coup.  They 
called  for  William  Jennings  Bryan  to  take  the  witness  stand 
as  an  expert  on  the  Bible. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


The  Last  Battle 

Bryan  against  Darrow — On  the  Witness  Stand — Defends  Revealed 
Religion — Jonah  and  the  Whale — The  Story  of  the  Creation — Eve 
and  the  Temptation — How  the  Serpent  Travelled. 

No  court  scene  in  the  world's  history  ever  has  held— or  will 
hold — all  the  dramatic  qualities  that  were  contained  on  the  plat- 
form outside  the  Dayton  courthouse  on  the  afternoon  Bryan 
took  the  witness  stand  and  offered  the  shield  of  his  faith  to  the 
slashing  thrusts  of  Darrow's  legal  skill  and  agnostic  philosophy. 

The  courtroom  was  the  lawn  and  the  clump  of  maple  trees 
in  the  courthouse  yard.  The  weight  of  the  hundreds  of  specta- 
tors who  had  jammed  their  perspiring  way  into  the  regular  court- 
room on  the  second  floor  of  the  courthouse  had  caused  fears 
that  the  building  would  collapse,  and  Judge  Raulston  had  ordered 
that  this  greatest  scene  of  all — bound  to  attract  the  crowds  as 
no  other  event  in  the  trial — should  be  held  outside  for  safety's 
sake. 

Crude  wooden  benches  made  of  planks  set  across  squared 
logs  held  the  spectators.  They  filled  these,  then  they  stood. 
The  men  and  women  and  children  of  the  Tennessee  hills  crowded 
and  banked  themselves  in  rank  on  rank  clear  back  to  the  court- 
yard fence  to  view  and  hear  this  battle  unique  in  the  world's 
annals. 

It  was  William  Jennings  Bryan,  champion  of  revealed 
religion,  against  Clarence  Darrow,  prophet  of  science. 

Two  men,  both  past  middle  age,  both  indeed  nearing  the  day 
when  death  would  decide  the  personal  issue  of  which  was  wrong 
and  which  was  right,  they  strove  there  with  the  multitude  tense- 

363 


364  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

ly  looking  on,  now  awed  into  silence,  now  frenziedly  cheering 
and  applauding,  forgetting  that  this  was  a  court  of  law. 

It  epitomized  the  struggle  of  the  ages,  that  conflict  there,  the 
eternal  war  between  religion  and  science. 

The  greatness  of  the  two,  their  very  physical  bulk  as  they 
stood  before  the  crowd,  the  magnitude  of  their  personalities, 
their  fervent  vigor,  reminded  one  of  two  of  the  giant  animals 
that  science  says  once  lived  on  earth  doing  battle  to  the  death. 

It  was  a  piece  of  clever  lawyership  on  the  part  of  the  defense 
that  brought  the  scene  about.  Their  scientific  witnesses  had 
been  ruled  from  the  stand.  Everyone  thought  the  trial,  so  far 
as  high  spots  went,  was  nearly  over.  Then  they  called  for 
Bryan  to  take  the  witness  chair.  Readily,  he  stepped  forward. 
He  wanted,  only,  he  said,  to  have  a  similar  opportunity  of  ques- 
tioning Darrow. 

He  took  his  seat.  Darrow  began  his  questioning.  The  fierce 
play  back  and  forth  between  these  two  can  be  depicted  only  in 
the  stenographic  report  of  what  followed. 

The  Court — Mr.  Bryan,  you  are  not  objecting  to  going  on 
the  stand? 

Mr.  Bryan — Not  at  all. 

The  Court — Do  you  want  Mr.  Bryan  sworn,  Mr.  Darrow? 

Mr.  Darrow — No,  I  take  it  you  will  tell  the  truth,  Mr.  Bryan. 
You  have  given  considerable  study  to  the  Bible,  haven't  you,  Mr. 
Bryan? 

Mr.  Bryan — Yes,  sir,  I  have  tried  to.  I  have  studied  the  Bible 
for  about  fifty  years,  or  some  time  more  than  that.  I  studied 
it  more  lately  than  in  my  youth. 

Q. — Do  you  claim  that  everything  in  the  Bible  should  be 
literally  interpreted?  A. — I  believe  everything  in  the  Bible 
should  be  accepted  as  it  is  given  there;  some  of  the  Bible  is 
given  illustratively.    For  instance,  "Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth." 


THE  LAST  BATTLE  365 

I  would  not  insist  that  man  was  actually  salt,  or  that  he  had 
flesh  of  salt,  but  it  is  used  in  the  sense  of  salt  as  saving  God's 
people. 

They  began  calmly,  good-naturedly  enough.  But  Darrow 
quickly  got  down  to  specific  questions  pertaining  to  Bryan's 
Bible  faith.  His  questions  grew  pointed ;  Bryan's  answers,  more 
emphatic. 

Q. — But  when  you  read  that  Jonah  swallowed  the  whale — 
or  that  the  whale  swallowed  Jonah — excuse  me  please — how  do 
you  literally  interpret  that?    A. — When  I  read  that  a  big  fish 

swallowed  Jonah — it  does  not  say  whale 

Q. — Doesn't  it?  Are  you  sure?  A. — That  is  my  recollection 
of  it.  A  big  fish,  and  I  believe  it ;  and  I  believe  in  a  God  who 
can  make  a  whale  and  can  make  a  man  and  make  both  do  what 
He  pleases. 

Q. — Now,  you  say,  the  big  fish  swallowed  Jonah,  and  he 
there  remained  how  long — three  days — and  then  he  spewed  him 
upon  the  land.  You  believe  that  the  big  fish  was  made  to  swal- 
low Jonah  ?  A. — I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that ;  the  Bible  merely 
says  it  was  done. 

Q. — You  don't  know  whether  it  was  the  ordinary  run  of  fish 
or  a  fish  made  for  that  purpose?  A. — You  may  guess;  you 
evolutionists  guess. 

Q. — But  when  we  do  guess,  we  have  the  sense  to  guess  right. 
A. — But  do  not  do  it  often. 

Q. — But  you  believe  He  made  them — that  He  made  such  a 
fish  and  that  it  was  big  enough  to  swallow  Jonah?  A. — Yes, 
sir.  Let  me  add:  one  miracle  is  just  as  easy  to  believe  as 
another. 

Q. — It  is  for  me.    A. — It  is  for  me  too. 

Q.— Just  as  hard?  A.— It  is  hard  to  believe  for  you,  but 
easy  for  me. 


366  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Q. — Perfectly  easy  to  believe  that  Jonah  swallowed  the 
whale?  A. — The  Bible  says  so.  The  Bible  doesn't  make  as 
extreme  statements  as  evolutionists  do. 

Q. — That  may  be  a  question,  Mr.  Bryan,  about  some  of  those 
you  have  known?  A. — The  only  thing  is,  you  have  a  definition 
of  fact  that  includes  imagination. 

Q. — And  you  have  a  definition  that  excludes  everything  but 
imagination. 

They  were  warming  to  the  struggle.  Mind  and  wit  were 
tuning  up.    A  sting  crept  into  both  voices. 

Q. — The  Bible  says  Joshua  commanded  the  sun  to  stand  still 
for  the  purpose  of  lengthening  the  day,  doesn't  it?  And  you  be- 
lieve it?    A. — I  do. 

Q. — Do  you  believe  at  that  time  the  sun  went  around  the 
earth?    A. — No,  I  believe  that  the  earth  goes  around  the  sun. 

Q. — Do  you  believe  that  the  men  who  wrote  it  thought  that 
the  day  could  be  lengthened  or  that  the  sun  could  be  stopped? 
A. — I  don't  know  what  they  thought.  I  think  they  wrote  the 
fact  without  expressing  their  own  thoughts. 

Attorney  General  Tom  Stewart  jumped  to  his  feet  for  the 
first  of  several  times,  to  object  to  this  questioning  going  on 
further.  It  wasn't  proper  in  a  law  suit,  he  said.  It  wasn't. 
But  like  two  fighters,  you  couldn't  drag  these  two  contestants 
apart.    "I  am  willing,"  said  Bryan,  and  the  questioning  went  on. 

Mr.  Darrow — Have  you  an  opinion,  as  to  whether,  whoever 
wrote  the  book — I  believe  it  is  Joshua — thought  the  sun  went 
around  the  earth  or  not?    A. — I  believe  he  was  inspired. 

Q. — Can  you  answer  my  question?  A. — When  you  let  me 
finish  the  statement.  You  cannot  measure  the  length  of  my 
answer  by  the  length  of  your  question.  (Laughter  in  the  court- 
yard.) 


THE  LAST  BATTLE  367 

Mr.  Darrow — No;  except  that  the  answer  will  be  longer. 
(Laughter  in  the  courtyard.) 

Mr.  Bryan — I  believe  the  Bible  is  inspired  and  written  by  in- 
spired authors.  Whether  the  one  who  wrote  as  he  was  directed 
to  write  understood  the  things  he  was  writing  about,  I  don't 
know. 

Q. — Do  you  think  whoever  inspired  it  believed  that  the  sun 
went  around  the  earth?  A. — I  believe  it  was  inspired  by  the 
Almighty  and  He  may  have  used  language  that  could  be  under- 
stood at  that  time,  instead  of  using  language  that  could  not  be 
understood  until  Darrow  was  born.     (Laughter  and  applause.) 

Q. — So  it  might  have  been  subject  to  construction,  might  it 
not?  A. — That  is  your  construction.  I  am  answering  your 
question. 

Q. — Don't  you  believe  that  in  order  to  lengthen  the  day  it 
would  have  been  construed  that  the  earth  stood  still?  A. — I 
would  not  attempt  to  say  what  would  have  been  necessary,  but 
I  know  this:  that  I  can  take  a  glass  of  water  that  would  fall  to 
the  ground  without  the  strength  of  my  hand  and,  to  the  extent 
of  the  glass  of  water,  I  can  overcome  the  law  of  gravitation  and 
lift  it  up,  whereas,  without  my  hand,  it  would  fall  to  the  ground. 
If  my  puny  hand  can  overcome  the  law  of  gravitation,  the  most 
universally  understood,  to  that  extent,  I  would  not  set  a  limit  to 
the  power  of  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  God  that  made  the 
universe. 

Q. — I  read  that  years  ago,  in  your  "Prince  of  Peace."  Can 
you  answer  my  question  directly?  If  the  day  was  lengthened 
by  stopping  either  the  earth  or  the  sun,  it  must  have  been  the 
earth?    A. — Well,  I  should  say  so, 

Q. — We  know  also  the  sun  does  not  stand  still?  A. — Well, 
that  is  relatively  so,  as  Mr.  Einstein  would  say. 


368  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Q. — I  ask  you  if  it  does  stand  still?  A. — You  know  as  well 
as  I  know. 

Q. — Better.  You  have  no  doubt  about  it?  A. — No.  And 
the  earth  moves  around. 

Q. — Yes  ?  A. — But  I  think  that  there  is  nothing  improper  if 
it  will  protect  the  Lord  against  your  criticism. 

Q. — I  suppose  He  needs  it.  A. — He  was  using  language  at 
that  time  the  people  understood. 

Q. — And  that  you  call  "interpretation  ?"  A. — No,  sir ;  I  would 
not  call  it  interpretation. 

Q. — I  say,  you  would  call  it  interpretation  at  this  time,  to 
say  it  meant  something  then?  A. — You  may  use  your  own  lan- 
guage to  describe  what  I  have  to  say,  and  I  will  use  mine  ir 
answering. 

Bryan  shot  to  his  feet  and  his  answer  flamed  out  at  his  tor- 
menter.    His  anger  was  stirred. 

Q. — Now,  Mr.  Bryan,  have  you  ever  pondered  what  would 
have  happened  to  the  earth  if  it  had  stood  still?  A. — No.  sir; 
the  God  I  believe  in  could  have  taken  care  of  that,  Mr.  Darrow. 

Q. — I  see.  Have  you  ever  pondered  what  would  naturally 
happen  to  the  earth  if  it  stood  still  suddenly?    A. — No. 

Q. — Don't  you  know  it  would  have  been  converted  into  a 
molten  mass  of  matter?  A. — You  testify  to  that  when  you  get 
on  the  stand;  I  will  give  you  a  chance. 

Q. — You  have  never  investigated  that  subject?  A. — I  don't 
think  I  have  ever  had  the  question  asked. 

Q. — Or  ever  thought  of  it?  A. — I  have  been  too  busy  on 
things  that  I  thought  were  of  more  importance  than  that. 

Q. — You  believe  the  story  of  the  flood  to  be  a  literal  inter- 
pretation?   A. — Yes,  sir. 

Q. — When  was  that  flood?  A. — I  would  not  attempt  to  fix 
the  date.    The  date  is  fixed,  as  suggested  this  morning. 


THE  LAST  BATTLE  369 

Q._ About  2400  B.  C?  A.— That  has  been  the  estimate  of  a 
man  that  is  accepted  today.    I  would  not  say  it  is  accurate. 

Q. — What  do  you  think?  A. — I  do  not  think  about  things 
that  I  don't  think  about. 

Q. — Do  you  think  about  things  that  you  do  think  about? 
A. — Well,  sometimes.     (Laughter  in  the  courtyard.) 

General  Stewart — I  am  objecting  to  his  cross-examining  his  own 
witness. 

The  Witness — I  want  him  to  have  all  the  latitude  that  he  wants. 
For  I  am  going  to  have  some  latitude  when  he  gets  through. 

Mr.  D arrow — You  can  have  latitude  and  longitude.    (Laughter.) 

The  Witness — These  gentlemen  have  not  had  much  chance — 
they  did  not  come  here  to  try  this  case.  They  came  here  to  try 
revealed  religion.  I  am  here  to  defend  it,  and  they  can  ask  me  any 
questions  they  please.     (Applause.) 

Mr.  D arrow — Great  applause  from  the  bleachers. 

The  Witness — From  those  whom  you  call  "yokels." 

Mr.  Darrow — I  have  never  called  them  yokels. 

The  Witness — That  is  the  ignorance  of  Tennessee,  the  bigotry. 

Mr.  Darrow — You  mean  who  are  applauding  you? 

The  Witness — Those  are  the  people  whom  you  insult? 

Mr.  Darrow — You  insult  every  man  of  science  and  learning  in 
the  world  because  he  doesn't  believe  in  your  fool  religion. 

Darrow,  beside  himself,  hurled  out  the  words.  Bryan's  face 
grew  red  with  anger.  He  was  on  his  feet  to  cast  back  a  reply 
when  Judge  Raulston  broke  it.  "I  will  not  stand  for  that,"  he 
cried.     At  last,  the  excitement  died  down. 

Mr.  Darrow — How  long  ago  was  the  flood,  Mr.  Bryan?  A. — Let 
me  see  Usher's  calculation  about  it.  It  is  given  here  as  2348 
years  before  Christ. 

Q. — You  believe  that  all  the  living  things  that  were  not  con- 


370  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

tained  in  the  ark  were  destroyed?  A. — I  think  the  fish  may  have 
lived. 

Q. — Outside  of  the  fish?  A. — I  have  no  proof  to  the 
contrary. 

Q. — I  am  asking  you  whether  you  believe?     A. — I  do. 

Q. — You  are  not  satisfied  there  is  any  civilization  that  can  be 
traced  back  5,000  years?  A. — I  would  not  want  to  say  there  is, 
because  I  have  no  evidence  of  it  that  is  satisfactory  when  the 
scientists  differ,  from  24,000,000  to  306,000,000  years  in  their 
opinion,  as  to  how  long  ago  life  came  here.  I  want  them  to 
come  nearer  together  before  they  demand  of  me  to  give  up  my 
belief  in  the  Bible.  I  am  satisfied  by  no  evidence  that  I  have 
found  that  would  justify  me  in  accepting  the  opinions  of  these 
men  against  what  I  believe  to  be  the  inspired  word  of  God. 

Q. — You  believe  that  every  civilization  on  the  earth  and  every 
living  thing  except  possibly  the  fishes  that  came  out  of  the  ark 
were  wiped  out  by  the  flood?    A. — At  that  time. 

Q. — And  that  whatever  human  beings,  including  all  the  tribes, 
that  inhabit  the  world  and  have  inhabited  the  world,  and  who 
run  their  pedigree  straight  back,  and  all  the  animals,  have  come 
onto  the  earth  since  the  flood?    A. — Yes. 

Q. — You  do  know  that  there  are  thousands  of  people  who 
profess  to  be  Christians  who  believe  the  earth  is  much  more 
ancient  and  that  the  human  race  is  much  more  ancient?  A. — I 
think  there  may  be. 

Witness  and  questioner  argued  back  and  forth  about  the 
sources  of  religion,  about  religions,  other  than  Christianity.  The 
talk  ran  to  Confucianism  and  Buddhism. 

Q. — Do  you  regard  them  as  competitive?  A. — No,  I  think 
they  are  very  inferior. 

Q. — You  have  never  in  all  your  life  made  any  attempt  to  find 
out  about  the  other  peoples  of  the  earth — how  old  their  civiliza- 


THE  LAST  BATTLE  371 

tions  are — how  long  they  had  existed  on  the  earth,  have  you? 
A. — No,  sir;  I  have  been  so  well  satisfied  with  the  Christian 
religion  that  I  have  spent  no  time  trying  to  find  arguments 
against  it. 

Q. — Were  you  afraid  you  might  find  some  ?  A. — No,  sir ;  and 
I  am  not  afraid  now  that  you  will  show  me  any ;  I  have  all  the 
information  I  want  to  live  by  and  die  by. 

Q. — And  that's  all  you  are  interested  in?  A. — I  am  not  look- 
ing for  any  more  on  religion. 

Q. — You  don't  care  how  old  the  earth  is,  how  old  man  is, 
and  how  long  the  animals  have  been  here?  A. — I  am  not  so 
much  interested  in  that. 

Q. — You  have  heard  of  the  tower  of  Babel  haven't  you? 
A. — Yes,  sir.  That  was  about  100  years  before  the  flood,  Mr. 
Darrow,  according  to  this  chronology. 

Q. — That  would  be  4155  years  ago.  Up  to  4155  years  ago 
every  human  being  on  earth  spoke  the  same  language?  A. — Yes, 
sir,  I  think  that  is  the  inference  that  could  be  drawn  from  that. 

Q. — Do  you  know  how  many  languages  are  spoken  on  the 
face  of  the  earth?  A. — No.  I  know  the  Bible  has  been  translated 
into  500.    Those  are  all  the  principal  languages. 

Q. — There  are  a  great  many  that  are  not  principal  languages. 
And  you  say  that  all  those  languages  of  all  the  sons  of  men  have 
come  on  the  earth  not  over  4150  years  ago?  A. — I  have  seen  no 
evidence  that  would  lead  to  me  to  put  it  any  further  back 
than  that. 

Q. — Mr.  Bryan,  could  you  tell  me  how  old  the  earth  is? 
A. — No,  sir,  I  couldn't. 

Q. — Could  you  come  anywhere  near  it?  A. — I  wouldn't  at- 
tempt to.  I  could  possibly  come  as  near  as  the  scientists  do, 
but  I  had  rather  be  more  accurate  before  I  give  a  guess. 

The  questioning  turned  to  the  age  of  the  earth;  Mr.  Bryan 


372  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

believed  it  was  much  older  than  4,000  years.  Then  to  the  story 
of  creation  in  Genesis. 

Q. — Do  you  think  the  earth  was  made  in  six  days?  A. — Not 
six  days  of  twenty-four  hours. 

Q. — Doesn't  it  say  so?    A. — No,  sir. 

Gen.  Stewart — I  want  to  interpose  another  objection.  What 
is  the  purpose  of  this  examination? 

Mr.  Bryan  was  on  his  feet.  He  shouted  out  over  the  heads 
of  the  audience. 

"The  purpose  is  to  cast  ridicule  on  everybody  who  believes 
in  the  Bible,  and  I  am  perfectly  willing  that  the  world  shall 
know  that  these  gentlemen  have  no  other  purpose  than  ridicul- 
ing every  person  who  believes  in  the  Bible." 

Darrow,  too,  was  stamping  about. 

"We  have  the  purpose  of  preventing  bigots  and  ignoramuses 
from  controlling  the  education  of  the  United  States,  and  you 
know  it,  and  that  is  all,"  was  his  retort. 

"I  am  glad  to  bring  out  that  statement,"  cried  Bryan  to  the 
court,  to  Darrow,  and  to  the  eager  spectators  below.  "I  want  the 
world  to  know  that  this  evidence  is  not  for  the  review.  Mr.  Dar- 
row and  his  associates  have  filed  affidavits  here  stating  the 
purpose,  as  I  understand  it,  is  to  show  that  the  Bible  story  is 
not  true. 

"I  am  not  trying  to  get  anything  into  the  records.  I  am 
simply  trying  to  protect  the  word  of  God  against  the  greatest 
atheist  or  agnostic  in  the  United  States.  (Prolonged  applause.) 
I  want  the  papers  to  know  I  am  not  afraid  to  get  on  the  stand 
in  front  of  him  and  let  him  do  his  worst.  I  want  the  world  to 
know  that  agnosticism  is  trying  to  force  unbelief  on  our  colleges 
and  on  our  schools,  and  the  people  of  Tennessee  will  not  permit 
it  to  be  done." 

"The  reason  I  am  answering,"  Mr.  Bryan  declared,  "is  not 


THE  LAST  BATTLE  373 

for  the  benefit  of  the  Supreme  court.  It  is  to  keep  these  gentle- 
men from  saying  I  was  afraid  to  meet  them,  and  let  them 
question  me;  and  I  want  the  Christian  world  to  know  that  any 
atheist,  agnostic,  unbeliever,  can  question  me  any  time  as  to  my 
belief  in  God  and  I  will  answer  him." 

"Your  Honor,"  he  continued,  "they  have  not  asked  a  ques- 
tion legally,  and  the  only  reason  they  have  asked  any  question 
is  for  the  purpose — as  the  question  about  Jonah  was  asked — for 
a  chance  to  give  this  agnostic  an  opportunity  to  criticize  a  be- 
liever in  the  word  of  God ;  and  I  answered  the  question  in  order 
to  shut  his  mouth  so  he  cannot  go  out  and  tell  his  atheist  friends 
that  I  would  not  answer  his  question.  That  is  the  only  reason  in 
the  world." 

Bryan  was  furiously  indignant.  He  paced  the  platform  and 
shook  his  finger  in  Darrow' s  face.  Never,  probably,  in  his  whole 
career  had  he  publicly  displayed  such  feeling.  The  crowd  was 
rocked  with  emotion  and  when  Bryan  finished  his  sympathizers 
cheered  and  applauded  wildly. 

Dudley  Field  Malone,  Darrow's  associate  counsel,  made  a 
stirring  speech  in  reply,  scoring  Bryan  for  his  attack  on  Darrow. 
Malone,  too,  drew  wild  applause.  It  took  resolute  pounding 
of  the  bailiff's  gavel  to  restore  order  and  let  Mr.  Darrow 
continue. 

Mr.  Darrow — Do  you  believe  that  the  first  woman  was  Eve? 
A.— Yes. 

Q. — Do  you  believe  she  was  literally  made  out  of  Adam's 
rib?    A.— I  do. 

Q. — Did  you  ever  discover  where  Cain  got  his  wife?  A. — No, 
sir;  I  leave  the  agnostics  to  hunt  for  her. 

Q. — Where  she  came  from  you  do  not  know.  All  right. 
Does  the  statement,  "The  morning  and  the  evening  were  the 
first  day,"  and  the  "morning  and  evening  were  the  second  day" 


374  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

mean  anything  to  you?  A. — I  don't  think  it  necessarily  means  a 
twenty-four-hour  day.  I  do  not  think  it  does.  But  I  think  it 
would  be  just  as  easy  for  the  kind  of  God  we  believe  in  to  make 
the  earth  in  six  days  or  in  six  years,  or  in  six  million  years,  or  in 
six  hundred  million  years.  I  do  not  think  it  important  whether 
we  believe  one  or  the  other. 

Q. — Do  you  think  those  were  literal  days?  A. — My  impres- 
sion is  they  were  periods. 

Q. — Have  you  any  idea  of  the  length  of  the  periods?  A. — No, 
I  haven't. 

Q. — Do  you  think  the  sun  was  made  on  the  fourth  day? 
A.— Yes. 

Q. — The  creation  might  have  been  going  on  for  a  very  long 
time?     A. — It  might  have  continued  for  millions  of  years. 

Q. — Do  you  believe  the  story  of  the  temptation  of  Eve  by 
the  serpent?    A. — I  do. 

Q. — Do  you  believe  that  after  Eve  ate  the  apple  or  gave  it 
to  Adam — which  ever  way  it  was — that  God  cursed  Eve,  and  at 
that  time  decreed  that  all  womankind  henceforth  and  forever 
should  suffer  the  pains  of  childbirth  in  the  reproduction  of  the 
earth?    A. — I  will  believe  just  what  the  Bible  says. 

Q. — And  you  believe  that  came  about  because  Eve  tempted 
Adam  to  eat  the  fruit?    A. — Just  as  it  says. 

Q. — And  you  believe  that  is  the  reason  that  God  made  the 
serpent  to  go  on  his  belly  after  he  tempted  Eve?  A. — I  believe 
the  Bible  as  it  is,  and  I  do  not  permit  you  to  put  your  language 
in  the  place  of  the  language  of  the  Almighty.  You  read  that 
Bible  and  ask  me  questions,  and  I  will  answer  them.  I  will  not 
answer  your  questions  in  your  language. 

Q. — I  will  read  it  to  you  from  the  Bible:  "and  the  Lord  God 
said  unto  the  serpent,  because  thou  has  done  this,  thou  art 
cursed  above  all  cattle,  and  above  every  beast  of  the  field ;  upon 


THE  LAST  BATTLE  375 

thy  belly  shalt  thou  go  and  dust  shalt  thou  eat  all  the  days  of  thy 
life."  Do  you  think  that  is  why  the  serpent  is  compelled  to 
crawl  upon  its  belly?    A. — I  believe  that. 

Q. — Have  you  any  idea  how  the  snake  went  before  that  time? 
A. — No,  sir. 

Q. — Do  you  know  whether  he  walked  on  his  tail  or  not? 
A. — No,  sir.     I  have  no  way  to  know.     (Laughter.) 

Q. — Now,  you  refer  to  the  bow  that  was  put  in  the  Heaven, 
after  the  flood,  the  rainbow.  Do  you  believe  in  that?  A. — Read  it. 

Q. — All  right,  Mr.  Bryan,  I  will  read  it  for  you. 

Mr.  Bryan — Your  honor,  I  think  I  can  shorten  this  testimony. 
The  only  purpose  Mr.  Darrow  has  is  to  slur  at  the  Bible,  but  I 
will  answer  his  question.  I  will  answer  it  all  at  once,  and  I  have 
no  objection  in  the  world.  I  want  the  world  to  know  that  this 
man,  who  does  not  believe  in  a  God,  is  trying  to  use  a  court  in 
Tennessee 

Once  more  Bryan  was  out  of  his  chair,  pouring  his  words  in 
a  swift  torrent  out  over  the  sea  of  rapt  faces. 

Mr.  Darrow — I  object  to  that. 

Mr.  Bryan  (Continuing) — To  slur  at  it,  and  while  it  will  require 
time,  I  am  willing  to  take  it. 

Mr.  Darrow — I  object  to  your  statement.  I  am  examining  you 
on  your  fool  ideas  that  no  intelligent  Christian  on  earth  believes. 

Once  more,  tumult,  at  that  bitter  attack  on  the  great  Com- 
moner and  his  faith.  The  crowd  was  in  a  stir,  adherents  of 
Bryan,  proponents  of  Darrow,  adding  their  voices  to  the  clamor 
on  the  platform.  Darrow  was  shaking  his  finger  in  Bryan's 
face  now,  and  Bryan  was  returning  the  gesture  with  vehemence. 
No  stenographer  could  catch  all  the  quick  words.  Then  the 
judge  cut  in,  and  the  gavel  halted  this  day,  one  of  the  most  event- 
ful in  American  court  history,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  event- 
ful in  the  life  of  Bryan. 


376  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Bryan's  faith  had  been  submitted  to  a  test  of  fire.  Men  will 
judge  according  to  their  views  as  to  which  of  the  two  mighty 
contestants  won  the  advantage.  Suffice  it,  that  the  champion 
of  revealed  religion  had  had  the  courage  of  his  conviction,  that 
he  had  submitted  readily  to  an  inquisition  by  one  of  the  keenest 
legal  minds  in  the  country. 

One  of  the  disappointments  of  his  life  was  that  he  never 
had  the  opportunity  to  submit  Darrow  to  a  like  examination. 
The  trial  ended  the  next  day.  Another  swift  move  on  the  part 
of  the  defense  brought  it  to  a  close  without  even  the  formality 
of  argument — the  second  great  disappointment;  for  it  was  in 
making  the  closing  speech  that  Bryan  intended  to  put  forth  one 
of  the  finest  efforts  of  his  life. 

But  it  was  otherwise  ordered.  Scopes  was  swiftly  declared 
guilty,  as  had  been  expected,  and  his  case  was  prepared  for  pres- 
entation to  the  higher  courts. 

Bryan  did  not  have  even  the  opportunity  of  giving  out  his 
closing  speech  in  person.  Death  took  him,  and  the  speech 
printed  further  on  in  this  book  was  given  out  posthumously. 

How  much  that  last  afternoon  on  the  witness  stand  had  to 
do  with  bringing  on  that  death  more  quickly  will,  of  course, 
never  be  known.  Bryan  felt  tired  after  that  strenuous  day,  he 
confessed.  It  must  of  necessity  have  sapped  much  of  his  wearied 
strength. 


1 
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§HlH               ■      19 

■Jjfis&BHHH 

©  P.    &   A.    photo. 

Guarding   the   Bier — Veterans   of   the    Spanish-American   war   standing 
guard  about  the  casket  of  the  Great  Commoner. 


photo 

Last  Tribute — Scene  at  the  funeral  services  in  Washington.     Hundreds 
packed  the  church;  other  hundreds  were  left  outside  in  the  rain. 


At  Rest — Soldiers  from  Fort  Myer  carrying  the  casket  to  the  grave  in 
Arlington  cemetery  while  crowds  of  mourners  stand  in  the  rain. 


nderwood   photo. 


Where    Bryan    Sleeps — Site    of   the    grave    of   the   Great    Commoner   in 
Arlington  National  cemetery  with  the  amphitheater  in  the  background. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 


He  Lay  Down  to  Sleep 

Sunday  afternoon,  July  26,  1925 — Grief  of  Mrs.  Bryan —  All  Day- 
ton, the  Nation  Mourns — Pilgrimage  from  the  Hills — Memorial 
Services — Sermon  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jones. 

In  the  midst  of  his  last  great  labor,  which  was  to  be  a  nation- 
wide campaign  for  laws  protecting  the  Bible,  William  Jennings 
Bryan  lay  down  to  sleep.  It  was  during  the  afternoon  of  Sun- 
day, July  26,  1925.    He  died  while  he  slept,  of  heart  trouble. 

Death  was  dramatic  for  the  Great  Commoner  as  so  many 
events  of  his  life  had  been.  The  drama  of  the  Scopes  trial  was 
over;  another  drama,  of  the  fight  to  protect  revealed  religion, 
was  to  follow.    It  was  just  a  lull  in  the  fight  when  the  end  came. 

He  was  still  in  Dayton,  scene  of  the  trial.  The  man  who 
knew  palaces  and  stately  mansions  died  as  he  had  lived — the 
Commoner — in  a  simple  cottage,  the  home  of  Richard  Rogers, 
Dayton  druggist,  where  the  Bryans  had  resided  during  the  trial. 

Apparently  full  of  health,  enthusiastic  over  his  plans  for  the 
future,  Bryan  had  gone  to  his  room  to  take  a  nap  after  a  hearty 
luncheon.  It  was  about  one-thirty  in  the  afternoon  when  he 
retired;  he  had  asked  to  be  wakened  about  four  o'clock.  Mrs. 
Bryan  sent  William  McCartney,  the  family  chauffeur  and  com- 
panion to  Bryan,  in  to  wake  him. 

But  the  Commoner  was  to  wake  no  more  on  earth.  Doctors 
were  called,  but  they  could  do  no  more  than  confirm  scientifically 
what  everyone  knew.    Bryan  was  dead. 

Mrs.  Bryan  was  on  the  front  porch  when  McCartney  went 
in.  He  cried  out  to  her  that  something  had  happened.  She  made 
her  way  to  her  husband's  side,  calling  him.     He  didn't  answer 

379 


380  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

and  she  fell  across  the  bed,  crying.  After  the  first  outburst  of 
grief,  she  gathered  herself  together  and  courageously  shared  the 
duties  attendant  on  the  sudden  tragedy. 

The  news  spread  through  Dayton  and  the  surrounding  coun- 
try like  wildfire.  The  people  could  hardly  believe  that  the  man 
whom  they  had  come  to  regard  almost  as  a  patron  saint  had 
died  so  suddenly.  Crowds  gathered  in  front  of  the  Rogers  house, 
then  quietly  dispersed  when  they  learned  that  the  widow  was 
under  the  doctor's  care  for  a  time.  But  they  gathered  again  in 
knots  at  the  street  corners  and  along  the  sidewalks,  to  talk  in 
hushed  voices  of  this  loss,  which  was  to  them  as  keen  almost 
as  the  death  of  a  member  of  their  own  families. 

There  had  been  no  immediate  foreshadowing  of  the  end, 
though  on  looking  back  later,  it  seemed  that  Bryan  had  felt  for 
some  time  that  he  had  not  a  great  deal  longer  to  live. 

At  the  Democratic  convention  in  New  York  in  the  summer 
of  1924,  it  was  recalled,  he  had  told  Former  Senator  Gilbert  M. 
Hitchcock  of  Nebraska  that  he  felt  "his  life  was  fast  coming  to 
an  end,  that  he  had  overtaxed  himself  so  much,  and  he  could 
not  stand  fatigue  as  he  used  to." 

And  those  who  heard  him  talk  at  Pikeville,  a  town  near 
Dayton,  during  the  trial,  remembered  that  he  had  spoken  there 
of  fatigue  in  explanation  of  the  shortness  of  his  speech.  He  had 
felt  the  great  heat  very  keenly  during  the  trial  and  had  become 
worn  and  thin.  But  never  had  the  fire  of  the  crusader  burned 
more  fiercely. 

Before  he  went  in  to  take  that  last  nap,  he  had  protested 
in  answer  to  anxious  inquiries,  that  he  had  never  felt  better. 
Even  during  the  few  days  of  comparative  interim  he  had  been 
busy.  He  had  completed  the  preparation  of  the  speech  which  was 
to  have  been  his  final  argument  in  the  prosecution  of  Scopes  and 
had  visited  Chattanooga  to  see  about  having  it  printed,  now  that 


HE  LAY  DOWN  TO  SLEEP  381 

he  was  unable  to  give  it  in  court  in  person.  On  the  day  before 
his  death  he  had  made  a  trip  to  Winchester,  Tenn.,  a  trip  that 
rivaled  a  day  of  any  of  his  political  tours  for  the  number  of 
people  he  addressed. 

At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  the  way  to  Winchester, 
he  had  spoken  to  a  great  throng  at  Jasper.  At  Fairgrounds, 
later  in  the  day,  he  addressed  an  audience  of  8,000.  Returning 
from  Winchester,  Bryan's  train  was  like  his  campaign  special 
of  1896.  The  journey  turned  spontaneously  into  a  back  platform 
speaking  tour.  At  town  after  town  the  Great  Commoner  made 
speeches. 

He  was  in  excellent  spirits  and  enjoyed  the  cheering  and  the 
wild  applause  as  he  pleaded  for  battle  against  the  forces  of 
unbelief.  He  hailed  the  conviction  of  Scopes  as  a  great  victory 
for  the  cause  of  Christianity  and  a  staggering  blow  to  the 
"powers  of  darkness/'  His  audiences  would  not  let  him  go. 
At  the  town  of  Cowan  he  spoke  for  twenty  minutes.  The 
schedule  of  his  train  was  thoroughly  disjointed. 

Altogether,  it  was  estimated,  Bryan  covered  200  miles  and 
talked  to  more  than  50,000  people  on  the  day  before  he  died. 
On  the  morning  of  his  death  he  had  attended  the  service  at  the 
Southern  Methodist  church  in  Dayton.  He  had  expected  to  go 
to  Nashville  and  Knoxville  in  a  day  or  so  to  deliver  more  ad- 
dresses. Mrs.  Bryan  was  planning  a  trip  to  Idaho  where  her 
husband  was  to  join  her  later. 

Following  his  death,  Mrs.  Bryan  expressed  her  husband's 
wish  that  he  be  buried  in  the  National  cemetery  at  Arlington, 
and  arrangements  were  begun  for  the  funeral. 

But  first  the  people  of  Dayton  were  to  have  opportunity  to 
do  honor  to  their  beloved  friend  and  revered  leader. 

On  the  Monday  after  his  death,  Bryan's  body  lay  in  state  in 
the  bronze  coffin  in  the  front  room  of  the  Rogers  home  while 


382  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

his  humbler  followers  came  to  gaze  for  the  last  time  on  the 
face  of  their  champion.  Gathered  as  watchers  about  the  coffin 
were  Bryan's  associates  in  the  Scopes  prosecution.  Telegrams 
and  letters  of  sympathy  by  the  hundred  were  pouring  in  from 
all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  world.  Six  members 
of  the  Dayton  post  of  the  American  Legion  were  selected  to 
stand  guard  at  the  coffin. 

But  Mrs.  Bryan  refused  their  offer  to  go  on  with  the  body 
to  Washington  as  a  military  guard  of  honor. 

"We  are  simple  people,"  she  said,  "and  we  want  all  arrange- 
ments simply  made." 

Out  of  respect  to  the  dead  Commoner  who  lay  in  their  midst 
the  flags  of  Dayton  flew  at  half  mast  and  all  the  shops  were 
closed,  while  on  the  front  window  of  Robinson's  drug  store, 
where  took  place  the  discussion  that  grew  into  the  Scopes  trial, 
this  proclamation,  issued  by  the  mayor  of  Dayton,  was  pasted: 

"He  fell  while  in  the  line  of  duty  to  the  cause  nearest  his 
heart.    All  Dayton  mourns  his  untimely  death." 

There  was  greater  show  at  the  formal  services  at  Washing- 
ton which  followed,  and  at  the  burial  in  Arlington  cemetery,  but 
there  were  no  sincerer  tributes  than  were  paid  by  the  plain  folk 
of  Tennessee.  Two  days  after  Bryan's  death,  and  the  day  before 
his  body  left  in  a  special  car  for  the  capital,  simple  memorial 
services  were  held  under  the  maples  in  front  of  the  Rogers  house. 

All  Dayton  was  there,  and  down  from  the  Cumberland  hills 
came  the  neighboring  folk.  They  laid  aside  their  work  in  corn- 
field and  orchard.  On  foot,  a-mule  back,  jostling  behind  rude 
wagons,  or  in  automobiles,  they  came  from  their  farms.  They 
formed  a  hushed  parade  of  honor  down  Dayton's  main  streets. 
They  spoke  in  simple  terms  of  him  as  they  had  heard  him  during 
the  past  weeks.  Easily,  naturally,  as  if  the  man  who  had  been 
three  times  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States 


HE  LAY  DOWN  TO  SLEEP  383 

and  once  was  Secretary  of  State,  had  been  a  neighbor  of  theirs — 
as  indeed  he  had — they  paid  him  homage. 

Lightly,  they  trod  as  they  left  the  sidewalk  and  mounted  the 
four  cement  steps  that  led  to  the  front  door  of  the  Rogers  home. 
Softly,  they  passed  through  the  screen  door  and  into  the  little 
room  where  lay  the  flag-draped  coffin.  Whispering  ceased  as 
they  edged  up  to  the  casket  and  gazed  fixedly  down  at  the  placid 
features  of  the  man  whom,  but  a  few  days  before,  they  had 
heard  and  cheered  as  he  defended  their  faith  and  his  own. 

Out  on  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  cottage  the  mourners  gathered 
for  the  service.  The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Jones,  pastor  of  the  Dayton 
Methodist  church,  preached  the  memorial  sermon.  So  simple 
it  was,  so  sincere,  and  so  typical  of  the  way  in  which  not  onl> 
the  people  of  Dayton,  or  of  Tennessee,  but  people  throughout 
this  nation  felt  toward  the  Great  Commoner,  that  it  is  given  here 
to  close  this  chapter: 

"One  of  the  young  men  associated  with  Mr.  Bryan  in  this 
law  suit  of  which  the  whole  world  has  heard,"  Rev.  Jones  began, 
"made  this  remark  to  me  the  other  day.  He  said,  'Brother 
Jones,  there  is  one  verse  of  Scripture  in  the  Bible,  the  most 
applicable  one  to  Mr.  Bryan's  life,  in  my  opinion,  in  the  great 
Book,  'Well  done  thou  good  and  faithful  servant/ 

"  'Well  done  thou  good  and  faithful  servant/  If  the  truth  has 
ever  been  said  of  any  man,  this  can  be  said  of  William  Jennings 
Bryan.  If  there  ever  has  been  a  faithful  servant  in  the  cause 
of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Great  Commoner  was  that 
man. 

"In  introducing  Mr.  Bryan  the  first  Sunday  he  spoke  in  our 
little  city  I  remember  to  have  said  of  him :  T  believe  that  he  is 
the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  make  strong  his  paths/ 

"Then  last  Sunday  morning  he  came  in  and  down  the  aisle 
and  took  the  front  pew.    He  sat  upon  the  front  pew  just  in  front 


384  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

of  the  preacher  and  when  the  congregation  stood  I  said  'We  will 
remain  standing  while  Brother  Bryan  leads  us  in  prayer.' 

"He  started  out  approaching  the  Father  with  these  words, 
'Dear  Heavenly  Father/  in  a  conversational  tone,  as  if  he  were 
seated  by  your  side  or  my  side,  in  friendly  conversation.  And 
the  burden  of  his  prayer  seemed  to  be  for  the  guidance  of  the 
holy  spirit.  One  of  his  petitions  was,  'Guide  us  by  thy  holy 
spirit/  He  prayed  God's  blessings  upon  the  church  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  upon  the  Bible  which  he  loved,  and  for  which  I 
verily  believe  he  gave  his  gracious,  his  magnificent,  his  beautiful, 
his  God-fearing,  his  victorious  life. 

"We  often  laud  the  motives  which  we  read  in  the  Holy  Book, 
but  I  believe  that  William  Jennings  Bryan  went  to  an  untimely 
death  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  the  living  God.  And  as  brave 
men  have  met  death  upon  the  thousands  of  battlefields,  this  most 
wonderful,  greatest  of  all  Christians  with  which  this  great  coun- 
try has  been  blessed,  met  death  with  a  smile. 

"I  came  upon  the  widow.  I  found  her  sitting  in  her  chair, 
with  an  occasional  tear.  She  wondered  why  a  great  man  had 
to  go  now  with  so  much  work  to  be  done.  I  said,  'Mrs.  Bryan, 
workmen  die,  but  their  work  goes  on/  She  said,  'But  I  wonder 
who  will  take  his  place.  Where  is  the  man?'  I  thought  upon 
that.    I  could  not  get  away  from  it. 

"I  want  to  say  this :  That  Mr.  Bryan  did  not  stack  arms  and 
forever  bury  his  leadership.  He  is  a  greater  leader  this  after- 
noon than  he  was  last  Sunday  morning.  I  turned  to  these 
lawyers  whom  he  loved,  and  I  believe  these  young  men  will  do 
their  utmost  to  carry  out  the  great  principle  for  which  he  fought 
and  died,  and  if  they  do  do  it,  William  Jennings  Bryan  shall 
not  have  died  in  vain,  so  far  as  they  are  concerned. 

"William  Jennings  Bryan  is  still  the  man  in  the  forefront, 
and  he  shall  arise  as  the  mighty  unit,  hundreds,  thousands  and 


HE  LAY  DOWN  TO  SLEEP  385 

millions  of  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls  will  meet  the  great 
enemy  of  the  Bible,  which  is  the  work  of  God,  in  solid  phalanx, 
and  we  shall  look  upon  William  Jennings  Bryan  as  in  death 
but  much  more  alive  today  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of 
his  life. 

"I  want  to  say  here  today  that  greater  fear  has  followed 
upon  the  opposers  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Son  of 
God  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  atheism,  agnosticism,  and 
all  the  other  damnable  "isms"  known  to  the  devil  and  his  cohorts. 

"Let  us  arise  as  American  people  who  have  followed  Him 
and  who  are  still  following  Him." 


CHAPTER  XXX 


Life  After  Death 

The  Posthumous  Speech — Right  of  Legislatures  to  Control  the 
Schools — The  Menace  of  the  Evolution  Theory — Darwin  as  an 
Example — Darrow's  Defense  of  Leopold  and  Loeb  Used  Against 
Him — World  Motivated  by  Hate,  not  Love,  if  Evolution  Tri- 
umphs—"Faith  of  Our  Fathers." 

The  fortunes  of  a  trial  at  law  robbed  Bryan  of  one  of  his 
most  cherished  desires,  the  hope  of  making  the  closing  argument 
in  the  Scopes  trial.  The  ruling  that  brought  the  trial  to  an  un- 
expected close  snatched  from  him  the  dreamed-of  opportunity 
of  making  this  one  most  eloquent  plea  for  his  religion  against 
the  forces  of  science  that  he  believed  were  aligned  against  it. 

A  lawyer's  fortune  robbed  him  of  this  chance,  but  death  gave 
it  back  to  him  in  his  grave.  He  lost  the  occasion  of  making  this 
final  argument  in  person,  while  all  the  newspaper-reading  world 
had  its  ear  attuned  to  the  happenings  in  Dayton.  Death  achieved 
for  him  a  greater  occasion,  a  greater  audience. 

Had  things  gone  as  he  expected,  the  world  would  have  read 
this  last  speech  against  a  background  of  the  man's  eloquent 
personality.  It  would  have  pictured  him,  there  in  the  court- 
room, using  that  gift  of  oratory  which  was  his,  as  he  had  never 
used  it  before.  When  at  last  this  speech,  which  follows,  was 
given  out  by  Mrs.  Bryan,  on  the  day  after  her  husband's  death, 
the  world  read  it  with  an  awe  that  never  could  have  been 
achieved  in  any  courtroom,  nor  by  any  manner  of  earthly 
eloquence. 

Bryan  had  been  working  on  its  preparation  for  many  days. 
It  was  ready,  typed,  when  he  lay  down  in  that  last  sleep.  It  is 
printed  here  below,  not  in  full — for  it  is  very  long — ,  but  with 

386 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  387 

only  a  few  portions  more  suitable  for  the  courtroom  omitted. 

"Demosthenes,  the  greatest  of  ancient  orators,  in  his  'oration 
of  the  crown/  the  most  famous  of  his  speeches,  began  by  sup- 
plicating the  favor  of  all  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  Greece.  If,  in 
a  case  which  involved  only  his  own  fame  and  fate,  he  felt  justified 
in  petitioning  the  heathen  gods  of  his  country,  surely  we,  who 
deal  with  the  momentous  issues  involved  in  this  case,  may  well 
pray  to  the  Ruler  of  the  universe  for  wisdom  to  guide  us  in  the 
performance  of  our  several  parts  of  this  historic  trial. 

"Let  me  in  the  first  place,  congratulate  our  cause  that  cir- 
cumstances have  committed  the  trial  to  a  community  like  this 
and  entrusted  the  decision  to  a  jury  made  up  largely  of  the 
yeomanry  of  the  state. 

"I  appreciate  the  sturdy  honesty  and  independence  of  those 
who  come  into  daily  contact  with  the  earth,  who,  living,  near  to 
nature,  worship  nature's  God,  and  who,  dealing  with  the  myriad 
mysteries  of  earth  and  air  seek  to  learn  from  revelation  about 
the  Bible's  wonder-working  God.  I  admire  the  stern  virtues, 
the  vigilance  and  the  patriotism  of  the  class  from  which  the  jury 
is  drawn,  and  am  reminded  of  the  lines  of  Scotland's  immortal 
bard,  which  when  changed  but  slightly,  describe  your  country's 
confidence  in  you: 

"O  Scotia,  my  dear,  my  native  soil! 

For  whom  my  warmest  wish  to  Heaven  is  sent, 
Long  may  thy  hardy  sons  of  rustic  toil 

Be  blest  with  health,  and  peace,  and  sweet  content! 

"And,  oh,  may  Heav'n  their  simple  lives  prevent 

From  luxury's  contagion,  weak  and  vile. 
Then,  howe'er  crowns  and  coronets  be  rent, 

A  virtuous  populace  may  rise  the  while, 

And  stand,  a  wall  of  fire,  around  their  much-loved  isle.' 


388  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"Let  us  now  separate  the  issues  from  the  misrepresentations, 
intentional  or  unintentional,  that  have  obscured  both  the  letter 
and  the  purpose  of  the  law.  This  is  not  an  interference  with 
freedom  of  conscience.  This  law  does  not  violate  any  rights 
guaranteed  by  any  constitution  to  any  individual. 

"It  need  hardly  be  added  that  this  law  did  not  have  its 
origin  in  bigotry.  It  is  not  trying  to  force  any  form  of  religion 
on  anybody.  The  majority  is  not  trying  to  establish  a  religion 
or  to  teach  it — it  is  trying  to  protect  itself  from  the  effort  of 
an  insolent  minority  to  force  irreligion  upon  the  children  under 
the  guise  of  teaching  science.  What  right  has  a  little  irresponsi- 
ble oligarchy  of  self-styled  'intellectuals'  to  demand  control  of 
the  schools  of  the  United  States,  in  which  25,000,000  of  children 
are  being  educated  at  an  annual  expense  of  nearly  $2,000,000,000? 

"Christians  must,  in  every  state  of  the  union,  build  their 
own  colleges  in  which  to  teach  Christianity ;  it  is  only  simple  jus- 
tice that  atheists,  agnostics  and  unbelievers  should  build  their 
own  colleges  if  they  want  to  teach  their  own  religious  views 
or  attack  the  religious  views  of  others.,, 

In  a  clear,  lawyerlike  manner,  he  states  the  facts  in  the  case 
against  Scopes;  reviews  the  testimony  given  by  the  state's  wit- 
nesses, the  boys  whom  Scopes  taught,  the  superintendent  of 
schools,  and  the  president  of  the  school  board.  He  continues 
with  his  argument: 

"These  are  the  facts.  They  are  sufficient  and  undisputed;  a 
verdict  of  guilty  must  follow. 

"But  the  importance  of  this  case  requires  more.  The  facts 
and  arguments  presented  to  you  must  not  only  convince  you  of 
the  justice  of  conviction  in  this  case  but,  while  not  necessary  to 
a  verdict  of  guilty,  they  should  convince  you  of  the  righteousness 
of  the  purpose  of  the  people  of  the  state  in  the  enactment  of  this 
law.     The  state  must  speak  through  you  to  the  outside  world 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  389 

and  repel  the  aspersions  cast  by  the  counsel  for  the  defense  upon 
the  intelligence  and  the  enlightenment  of  the  citizens  of 
Tennessee. 

"Religion  is  not  hostile  to  learning;  Christianity  has  been  the 
greatest  patron  learning  has  ever  had.  But  Christians  know  that 
'the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom'  now  just  as 
it  has  been  in  the  past,  and  they  therefore  oppose  the  teaching 
of  guesses  that  encourage  Godlessness  among  the  students. 

"Neither  does  Tennessee  undervalue  the  service  rendered  by 
science.  The  Christian  men  and  women  of  Tennessee  know  how 
deeply  mankind  is  indebted  to  science  for  benefits  conferred  by 
the  discovery  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  by  the  designing  of  ma- 
chinery for  the  utilization  of  these  laws.  Give  science  a  fact  and 
it  is  not  only  invincible,  but  it  is  of  incalculable  service  to  man. 
If  one  is  entitled  to  draw  from  society  in  proportion  to  the 
service  that  he  renders  to  society,  who  is  able  to  estimate  the 
reward  earned  by  those  who  have  given  to  us  the  use  of  steam, 
the  use  of  electricity,  and  enabled  us  to  utilize  the  weight  of 
water  that  flows  down  the  mountainside? 

"Who  will  estimate  the  value  of  the  service  rendered  by  those 
who  invented  the  phonograph,  the  telephone  and  the  radio?  Or, 
to  come  more  closely  to  our  home  life,  how  shall  we  recompense 
those  who  gave  us  the  sewing  machine,  the  harvester,  the  thresh- 
ing machine,  the  tractor,  the  automobile  and  the  method  now 
employed  in  making  artificial  ice?  The  department  of  medicine 
also  opens  an  unlimited  field  for  invaluable  service.  Typhoid  and 
yellow  fever  are  not  feared  as  they  once  were.  Diphtheria  and 
pneumonia  have  been  robbed  of  some  of  their  terrors,  and  a  high 
place  on  the  scroll  of  fame  still  awaits  the  discoverer  of  remedies 
for  arthritis,  cancer,  tuberculosis  and  other  dread  disease  to 
which  mankind  is  heir. 

"Christianity  welcomes  truth  from  whatever  source  it  comes, 


390  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

and  is  not  afraid  that  any  real  truth  from  any  source  can  interfere 
with  the  Divine  truth  that  comes  by  inspiration  from  God  him- 
self. It  is  not  scientific  truth  to  which  Christians  object,  for  true 
science  is  classified  knowledge,  and  nothing  therefore  can  be 
scientific  unless  it  is  true. 

"Evolution  is  not  truth ;  it  is  merely  an  hypothesis — it  is  mil- 
lions of  guesses  strung  together.  It  had  not  been  proven  in  the 
days  of  Darwin;  he  expressed  astonishment  that  with  two  or 
three  million  species  it  had  been  impossible  to  trace  any  species 
to  any  other  species.  It  had  not  been  proven  in  the  days  of  Hux- 
ley, and  it  has  not  been  proven  up  to  today.  While  many 
scientists  accept  evolution  as  if  it  were  a  fact,  they  all  admit, 
when  questioned,  that  no  explanation  has  been  found  as  to  how 
one   species   developed   into   another. 

"Darwin  suggested  two  laws,  sexual  selection  and  natural 
selection.  Sexual  selection  has  been  laughed  out  of  the  class 
room,  and  natural  selection  is  being  abandoned,  and  no  new 
explanation  is  satisfactory  even  to  scientists. 

"Some  of  the  more  rash  advocates  of  evolution  are  wont  to 
say  that  evolution  is  as  firmly  established  as  the  law  of  gravita- 
tion or  the  Copernican  theory.  The  absurdity  of  such  a  claim  is 
apparent  when  we  remember  that  anyone  can  prove  the  law  of 
gravitation  by  throwing  a  weight  into  the  air,  and  that  anyone 
can  prove  the  roundness  of  the  earth  by  going  around  it,  while 
no  one  can  prove  evolution  to  be  true  in  any  way  whatever. 

"There  is  no  more  reason  to  believe  that  man  descended 
from  some  inferior  animal  than  there  is  to  believe  that  a  stately 
mansion  has  descended  from  a  small  cottage.  Resemblances  are 
not  proof — they  simply  put  us  on  inquiry.  As  one  fact,  such 
as  the  absence  of  the  accused  from  the  scene  of  the  murder, 
outweighs  all  the  resemblances  that  a  thousand  witnesses  could 
swear  to,  so  the  inability  of  science  to  trace  any  one  of  the  mil- 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  391 

lions  of  species  to  another  species,  outweighs  all  the  resemblances 
upon  which  evolutionists  rely  to  establish  man's  blood  relation- 
ship with  the  brutes. 

"But  while  the  wisest  scientists  can  not  prove  a  pushing 
power,  such  as  evolution  is  supposed  to  be,  there  is  a  lifting 
power,  that  any  child  can  understand. 

"Christ  is  our  drawing  power;  He  said,  'I,  if  I  be  lifted  up 
from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me/  and  His  promise  is 
being  fulfilled  daily  all  over  the  world." 

Bryan  takes  up  the  doctrine  of  evolution  as  set  forth  in 
Hunter's  Biology,  the  text  from  which  Scopes  taught.  He  turns 
to  the  family  tree  contained  in  the  book,  where  the  various  great 
classes  of  animals  are  represented  by  circles  at  the  end  of  each 
branch,  and  within  the  circle  a  number,  showing  the  approximate 
number  of  species  in  each  animal  group. 

"No  circle  is  reserved  for  man  alone! 

"He  is,  according  to  the  diagram,  shut  up  in  the  little  circle 
entitled  'mammals/  with  3,499  other  species  of  mammals.  Does 
it  not  seem  a  little  unfair  not  to  distinguish  between  man  and 
lower  forms  of  life? 

"What  shall  we  say  of  the  intelligence,  not  to  say  religion, 
of  those  who  are  so  particular  to  distinguish  between  fishes  and 
reptiles  and  birds,  but  put  a  man  with  an  immortal  soul  in  the 
same  circle  with  the  wolf,  the  hyena  and  the  skunk?  What  must 
be  the  impression  made  upon  children  by  such  a  degradation  of 
man? 

"In  the  preface  of  this  book,  the  author  explains  that  it  is 
for  children,  and  adds  that  'the  boy  or  girl  of  average  ability 
upon  admission  to  the  secondary  school  is  not  a  thinking  in- 
dividual/ Whatever  may  be  said  in  favor  of  teaching  evolution 
to  adults,  it  surely  is  not  proper  to  teach  it  to  children  who  are 
not  yet  able  to  think. 


392  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

"The  evolutionist  does  not  undertake  to  tell  us  how  protozoa, 
moved  by  interior  and  resident  forces,  sent  life  up  through  all 
the  various  species,  and  can  not  prove  that  there  was  actually 
any  such  compelling  power  at  all.  And  yet,  the  school  children 
are  asked  to  accept  their  guesses  and  build  a  philosophy  of  life 
upon  them. 

"If  it  were  not  so  serious  a  matter,  one  might  be  tempted  to 
speculate  upon  the  various  degrees  of  relationship  that,  accord- 
ing to  evolutionists,  exist  between  man  and  other  forms  of  life. 
It  might  require  some  very  nice  calculation  to  determine  at  what 
degree  of  relationship  the  killing  of  a  relative  ceases  to  be  murder 
and  the  eating  of  one's  kin  ceases  to  be  cannibalism. 

"But  it  is  not  a  laughing  matter  when  one  considers  that 
evolution  not  only  offers  no  suggestions  as  to  a  Creator,  but 
tends  to  put  the  creative  act  so  far  away  as  to  cast  doubt  upon 
creation  itself.  And,  while  it  is  shaking  faith  in  God  as  a  be- 
ginning, it  is  also  creating  doubt  as  to  a  heaven  at  the  end  of 
life.  Evolutionists  do  not  feel  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  them 
to  show  how  life  began,  or  at  what  point  in  their  long  drawn 
out  scheme  of  changing  species  man  became  endowed  with  hope 
and  promise  of  immortal  life. 

"God  may  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  the  evolutionists,  and 
a  life  beyond  may  have  no  charm  for  them,  but  the  mass  of  man- 
kind will  continue  to  worship  their  Creator  and  continue  to  find 
comfort  in  the  promise  of  their  Savior  that  He  has  gone  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  them.  Christ  has  made  of  death  a  narrow,  star- 
lit stripe  between  the  companionship  of  yesterday  and  the 
reunion  of  tomorrow;  evolution  strikes  out  the  stars  and  deepens 
the  gloom  that  enshrouds  the  tomb. 

"If  the  results  of  evolution  were  unimportant,  one  might  re*- 
quire  less  proof  in  support  of  the  hypothesis,  but  before  ac- 
cepting a  new  philosophy  of  life,  built  upon  a  materialistic 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  393 

foundation,  we  have  reason  to  demand  something  more  than 
guesses.  'We  may  well  suppose'  is  not  a  sufficient  substitute  for 
'thus  saith  the  Lord.'" 

The  argument  goes  on  and  quotes  from  Darwin's  "Descent 
of  Man."  Another  family  tree  is  brought  forth,  this  time  the  one 
as  the  great  English  naturalist  conceived  it.  Bryan  picks  his 
theory  to  pieces. 

"Our  first  indictment  against  evolution  is  that  it  disputes 
the  truth  of  the  Bible  account  of  man's  creation  and  shakes 
faith  in  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God.  This  indictment  we  prove 
by  comparing  the  processes  described  as  evolutionary  with  the 
text  of  Genesis.  It  not  only  contradicts  the  Mosaic  record  as 
to  the  beginning  of  human  life,  but  it  disputes  the  Bible  doctrine 
of  reproduction  according  to  kind — the  greatest  scientific  prin- 
ciple known. 

"Our  second  indictment  is  that  the  evolutionary  hypothesis, 
carried  to  its  logical  conclusion,  disputes  every  vital  truth  of 
the  Bible.  Its  tendency,  natural,  if  not  inevitable,  is  to  lead 
those  who  really  accept  it,  first  to  agnosticism  and  then  to 
atheism.  Evolutionists  attack  the  truth  of  the  Bible,  not  openly 
at  first,  but  by  using  weazel  words  like  'poetical,'  'symbolical' 
and  'allegorical'  to  suck  the  meaning  out  of  the  inspired  record 
of  man's  creation." 

Bryan  quotes  further  from  Darwin,  this  time  from  a  state- 
ment appearing  in  the  biography  of  Darwin  written  by  his  son. 
And  the  argument  goes  on : 

"When  Darwin  entered  upon  his  scientific  career  he  was 
'quite  orthodox  and  quoted  the  Bible  as  an  unanswerable  au- 
thority on  some  point  of  morality.'  Even  when  he  wrote  'The 
Origin  of  Species'  the  thought  of  'a  first  cause,  having  an  in- 
telligent mind  in  some  degree  analagous  to  man'  was  strong  in 


394  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

his  mind.  It  was  after  that  time  that  Very  gradually,  with 
many  fluctuations/  his  belief  in  God  became  weaker. 

"He  traces  this  decline  for  us  and  concludes  by  telling  us 
that  he  cannot  pretend  to  throw  the  least  light  on  such  abstruse 
problems — the  religious  problems  above  referred  to.  Then  comes 
the  flat  statement  that  he  'must  be  content  to  remain  an  agnostic' 
and  to  make  clear  what  he  means  by  the  word  agnostic  he  says 
that  'the  mystery  of  the  beginning  of  all  things  is  insoluble  by  us' 
— not  by  him  alone,  but  by  everybody.  Here  we  have  the  effect 
of  evolution  upon  its  most  distinguished  exponent;  it  led  him 
from  an  orthodox  Christian,  believing  every  word  of  the  Bible 
and  in  a  personal  God,  down  and  down  and  down  to  helpless  and 
hopeless  agnosticism. 

"But  there  is  one  sentence  upon  which  I  reserved  comment — 
it  throws  light  upon  his  downward  pathway.  'Then  arises  the 
doubt,  can  the  mind  of  man,  which  has,  as  I  fully  believe,  been 
developed  from  a  mind  as  low  as  that  possessed  by  the  lowest 
animals,  be  trusted  when  it  draws  such  grand  conclusions  ?' 

"Here  is  the  explanation;  he  drags  man  down  to  the  brute 
level,  and  then,  judging  man  by  brute  standards,  he  questions 
whether  man's  mind  can  be  trusted  to  deal  with  God  and 
immortality ! 

"How  can  any  teacher  tell  his  students  that  evolution  does 
not  tend  to  destroy  his  religious  faith?  How  can  an  honest 
teacher  conceal  from  his  students  the  effect  of  evolution  upon 
Darwin  himself?  And  is  it  not  stranger  still  that  preachers 
who  advocate  evolution  never  speak  of  Darwin's  loss  of  faith, 
due  to  his  belief  in  evolution? 

"The  parents  of  Tennessee  have  reason  enough  to  fear  the 
effect  of  evolution  upon  the  minds  of  their  children.  Belief  in 
evolution  cannot  bring  to  those  who  hold  such  a  belief  any 
compensation  for  the  loss  of  faith  in  God,  trust  in  the  Bible 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  395 

and  belief  in  the  supernatural  character  of  Christ.  It  is  belief  in 
evolution  that  has  caused  so  many  scientists  and  so  many 
Christians  to  reject  the  miracles  of  the  Bible,  and  then  give  up, 
one  after  another,  every  vital  truth  of  Christianity.  They  finally 
cease  to  pray  and  sunder  the  tie  that  binds  them  to  their 
Heavenly  Father. 

"The  miracle  should  not  be  a  stumbling  block  to  any  one. 
It  raises  but  three  questions:  First:  Could  God  perform  a 
miracle  ?  Yes,  the  God  who  created  the  universe  can  do  anything 
He  wants  to  with  it.  He  can  temporarily  suspend  any  law  that 
He  has  made  or  He  may  employ  higher  laws  that  we  do  not 
understand. 

"Second:  Would  God  perform  a  miracle?  To  answer  that 
question  in  the  negative  one  would  have  to  know  more  about 
God's  plans  and  purposes  than  a  finite  mind  can  know,  and  yet 
some  are  so  wedded  to  evolution  that  they  deny  that  God  would 
perform  a  miracle  merely  because  a  miracle  is  inconsistent  with 
evolution. 

"If  we  believe  that  God  can  perform  a  miracle  and  might  de- 
sire to  do  so,  we  are  prepared  to  consider  with  open  mind  the 
third  question,  namely  did  God  perform  the  miracles  recorded 
in  the  Bible?  The  same  evidence  that  establishes  the  authority 
of  the  Bible  establishes  the  truth  of  the  record  of  miracles 
performed." 

Bryan  reads  into  his  record  the  confession  of  the  scientist, 
George  John  Romanes,  that  he  lost  his  belief  in  orthodox  religion 
through  his  studies  of  evolution.  "One  of  the  most  pathetic  con- 
fessions that  has  come  to  my  notice,"  Bryan  calls  it,  as  he 
goes  on : 

"Do  these  evolutionists  stop  to  think  of  the  crime  they  com- 
mit when  they  take  faith  out  of  the  hearts  of  men  and  women 
and  lead  them  out  into  a  starless  night?     What  pleasure  can 


396  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

they  find  in  robbing  a  human  being  of  'the  hallowed  glory  of 
that  creed,  that  Romanes  once  cherished,  and  in  substituting 
'the  lonely  mystery  of  existence'  as  he  found  it?  Can  the  fathers 
and  mothers  of  Tennessee  be  blamed  for  trying  to  protect  their 
children  from  such  a  tragedy  ? 

"If  anyone  has  been  led  to  complain  of  the  severity  of  the 
punishment  that  hangs  over  the  defendant,  let  him  compare 
this  crime  and  its  mild  punishment  with  the  crimes  for  which 
greater  punishment  is  prescribed.  What  is  the  taking  of  a  few 
dollars  from  one  in  day  or  night  in  comparison  with  the  crime 
of  leading  one  away  from  God  and  away  from  Christ? 

"And,  it  must  be  remembered,  that  we  can  measure  the  effect 
on  only  that  part  of  life  which  is  spent  on  earth ;  we  have  no  way 
of  calculating  the  effect  on  that  infinite  circle  of  life  of  which 
existence  here  is  but  a  small  arc. 

"The  soul  is  immortal  and  religion  deals  with  the  soul;  the 
logical  effect  of  the  evolutionary  hypothesis  is  to  undermine 
religion  and  thus  affect  the  soul.  I  recently  received  a  list  of 
questions  that  were  to  be  discussed  in  a  prominent  eastern  school 
for  women.  The  second  question  in  the  list  read  'Is  religion 
an  obsolescent  function  that  should  be  allowed  to  atrophy 
quietly,  without  arousing  the  passionate  prejudice  of  outworn 
superstition  ?' 

"The  real  attack  of  evolution,  it  will  be  seen,  is  not  upon 
orthodox  Christianity,  or  even  upon  Christianity,  but  upon 
religion — the  most  basic  fact  in  man's  existence  and  the  most 
practical  thing  in  life. 

"The  people  of  Tennessee  have  been  patient  enough;  they 
acted  none  too  soon.  How  can  they  expect  to  protect  society, 
and  even  the  church,  from  the  deadening  influence  of  agnosticism 
and  atheism  if  they  permit  the  teachers  employed  by  taxation  to 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  397 

poison  the  minds  of  the  youth  with  this  destructive  doctrine? 
And  remember,  that  the  law  has  not  heretofore  required  the 
writing  of  the  word  'poison'  on  poisonous  doctrines.  The  bodies 
of  our  people  are  so  valuable  that  druggists  and  physicians  must 
be  careful  to  properly  label  all  poisons ;  why  not  be  as  careful 
to  protect  the  spiritual  life  of  our  people  from  the  poisons  that 
kill  the  soul? 

"There  is  a  test  that  is  sometimes  used  to  ascertain  whether 
one  suspected  of  mental  infirmity  is  really  insane.  He  is  put 
into  a  tank  of  water  and  told  to  dip  the  tank  dry  while  a  stream 
of  water  flows  into  the  tank.  If  he  has  not  sense  enough  to  turn 
off  the  stream,  he  is  adjudged  insane.  Can  parents  justify  them- 
selves if,  knowing  the  effect  of  belief  in  evolution,  they  permit 
irreligious  teachers  to  inject  skepticism  and  infidelity  in  the  minds 
of  their  children? 

"Do  bad  doctrines  corrupt  the  morals  of  students?  We  have 
a  case  in  point.  Mr.  Darrow,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
criminal  lawyers  in  our  land,  was  engaged  about  a  year  ago  in 
defending  two  rich  men's  sons  who  were  on  trial  for  as  dastardly 
a  murder  as  was  ever  committed." 

Straight  at  Darrow,  his  opponent,  he  throws  the  arguments 
Darrow  used  to  save  Leopold  and  Loeb  from  the  gallows:  that 
they  should  not  be  blamed  too  harshly  for  being  influenced  by 
the  doctrines  taught  them  in  the  university,  especially  the  doc- 
trines of  Nietzsche,  in  whose  superman  Leopold  found  his  theory 
of  life. 

And  straight  at  Darrow  Bryan  hurls  his  answer: 

"This  is  a  damnable  philosophy,  and  yet  it  is  the  flower  that 
blooms  on  the  stalk  of  evolution.  Air.  Darrow  thinks  the  uni- 
versities are  in  duty  bound  to  feed  out  this  poisonous  stuff  to 
their  students,  and  when  the  students  become  stupefied  by  it  and 


398  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

commit  murder,  neither  they  nor  the  universities  are  to  blame. 
I  am  sure,  your  honor,  and  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that  you 
agree  with  me  when  I  protest  against  the  adoption  of  any  such 
a  philosophy  in  the  state  of  Tennessee. 

"A  criminal  is  not  relieved  from  responsibility  merely  because 
he  found  Nietzsche's  philosophy  in  a  library  which  ought  not 
to  contain  it.  Neither  is  the  university  guiltless  if  it  permits 
such  corrupting  nourishment  to  be  fed  to  the  souls  that  are 
entrusted  to  its  care. 

"Psychologists  who  build  upon  the  evolutionary  hypothesis 
teach  that  man  is  nothing  but  a  bundle  of  characteristics  in- 
herited from  brute  ancestors.  That  is  the  philosophy  which 
Mr.  Darrow  applied  in  this  celebrated  criminal  case.  'Some  re- 
mote ancestor' — he  does  not  know  how  remote — 'sent  down  the 
seed  that  corrupted  him/  You  cannot  punish  the  ancestor — 
he  is  not  only  dead,  but,  according  to  the  evolutionists,  he  was 
a  brute  and  may  have  lived  a  million  years  ago.  And  he  says 
that  all  the  biologists  agree  with  him — no  wonder  so  small  a 
percentage  of  the  biologists,  according  to  Leuba,  believe  in  a 
personal  God. 

"This  is  the  quintessence  of  evolution,  distilled  for  us  by 
one  who  follows  that  doctrine  to  its  logical  conclusion.  Analyze 
this  dogma  of  darkness  and  death.  Evolutionists  say  that  back 
in  the  twilight  of  life  a  beast,  name  and  nature  unknown,  planted 
a  murderous  seed  and  that  the  impulse  that  originated  in  that 
seed  throbs  forever  in  the  blood  of  the  brute's  descendants,  in- 
spiring killings  innumerable,  for  which  murderers  are  not 
responsible  because  coerced  by  a  fate  fixed  by  the  laws  of 
heredity ! 

"It  is  an  insult  to  reason  and  shocks  the  heart.  That  doctrine 
is  as  deadly  as  leprosy;  it  may  aid  a  lawyer  in  a  criminal  case, 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  399 

but  it  would,  if  generally  adopted,  destroy  all  sense  of  responsi- 
bility and  menace  the  morals  of  the  world. 

"A  brute,  they  say,  can  predestine  a  man  to  crime,  and  yet 
they  deny  that  God  incarnate  in  the  flesh  can  release  a  human 
being  from  this  bondage  or  save  him  from  ancestral  sins.  No 
more  repulsive  doctrine  was  ever  proclaimed  by  man;  if  all  the 
biologists  of  the  world  teach  this  doctrine — as  Mr.  Darrow  says 
they  do — then  may  heaven  defend  the  youth  of  our  land  from 
their  impious  babblings. 

"Our  third  indictment  against  evolution  is  that  it  diverts 
attention  from  pressing  problems  of  great  importance  to  trifling 
speculation.  While  one  evolutionist  is  trying  to  imagine  what 
happened  in  the  dim  past,  another  is  trying  to  pry  open  the  door 
of  the  distant  future.  One  recently  grew  eloquent  over  ancient 
worms,  and  another  predicted  that  75,000  years  hence  everyone 
will  be  bald  and  toothless.  Both  those  who  endeavor  to  clothe 
our  remote  ancestors  with  hair  and  those  who  endeavor  to  re- 
move the  hair  from  the  heads  of  our  remote  descendants  ignore 
the  present  with  its  imperative  demands. 

"The  science  of  'how  to  live'  is  the  most  important  of  all 
the  sciences.  It  is  desirable  to  know  the  physical  sciences,  but 
it  is  necessary  to  know  how  to  live.  Christians  desire  that  their 
children  shall  be  taught  all  the  sciences,  but  they  do  not  want 
them  to  lose  sight  of  the  Rock  of  Ages  while  they  study  the 
age  of  the  rocks;  neither  do  they  desire  them  to  become  so 
absorbed  in  measuring  the  distance  between  the  stars  that  they 
will  forget  Him  who  holds  the  stars  in  His  hand. 

"While  not  more  than  two  per  cent  of  our  population  are 
college  graduates,  these,  because  of  enlarged  powers,  need  a 
'heavenly  vision'  even  more  than  those  less  learned,  both  for  their 
own  restraint  and  to  assure  society  that  their  enlarged  powers 


400  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

will  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  society  and  not  against  the  public 
welfare. 

"Evolution  is  deadening  the  spiritual  life  of  a  multitude  of 
students.  Christians  do  not  desire  less  education,  but  they  desire 
that  religion  shall  be  entwined  with  learning  so  that  our  boys 
and  girls  will  return  from  college  with  their  hearts  aflame  with 
love  of  God  and  love  of  fellowmen,  and  prepared  to  lead  in  the 
altruistic  work  that  the  world  so  sorely  needs. 

"The  cry  in  the  business  world,  in  the  industrial  world,  in 
the  professional  world,  in  the  political  world — even  in  the  re- 
ligious world — is  for  consecrated  talents — for  ability  plus  a  pas- 
sion for  service. 

"Our  fourth  indictment  against  the  evolutionary  hypothesis 
is  that,  by  paralyzing  the  hope  of  reform,  it  discourages  those 
who  labor  for  the  improvement  of  man's  condition.  Every  up- 
ward-looking man  or  woman  seeks  to  lift  the  level  upon  which 
mankind  stands,  and  they  trust  that  they  will  see  beneficient 
changes  during  the  brief  span  of  their  own  lives. 

"Evolution  chills  their  enthusiasm  by  substituting  aeons  for 
years.  It  obscures  all  beginnings  in  the  mists  of  endless  ages. 
It  is  represented  as  a  cold  and  heartless  process,  beginning  with 
time  and  ending  in  eternity,  and  acting  so  slowly  that  even  the 
rocks  can  not  preserve  a  record  of  the  imaginary  changes  through 
which  it  is  credited  with  having  carried  an  original  germ  of 
life  that  appeared  sometime  from  somewhere. 

"Its  only  program  for  man  is  scientific  breeding,  a  system 
under  which  a  few  supposedly  superior  intellects,  self-appointed, 
would  direct  the  mating  and  the  movements  of  the  mass  of  man- 
kind— an  impossible  system.  Evolution,  disputing  the  miracle, 
and  ignoring  the  spiritual  in  life,  has  not  place  for  the  regenera- 
tion of  the  individual.  It  recognizes  no  cry  of  repentance  and 
scoffs  at  the  doctrine  that  one  can  be  born  again. 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  401 

"It  is  thus  the  intolerant  and  unrelenting  enemy  of  the  only 
process  that  can  redeem  society  through  the  redemption  of  the 
individual.  An  evolutionist  would  never  write  such  a  story  as 
the  prodigal  son;  it  contradicts  the  whole  theory  of  evolution. 
The  two  sons  inherited  from  the  same  parents  and,  through  their 
parents,  from  the  same  ancestors,  proximate  and  remote.  And 
these  sons  were  reared  at  the  same  fireside  and  were  surrounded 
by  the  same  environment  during  all  the  days  of  their  youth ; 
and  yet  they  were  different. 

"If  Mr.  Darrow  is  correct  in  the  theory  applied  to  Loeb, 
namely,  that  his  crime  was  due  either  to  inheritance  or  to  en- 
vironment, how  will  he  explain  the  difference  between  the  elder 
brother  and  wayward  son?  The  evolutionist  may  understand 
from  observation,  if  not  by  experience,  even  though  he  can  not 
explain,  why  one  of  these  boys  was  guilty  of  every  immorality, 
squandered  the  money  that  the  father  had  laboriously  earned, 
and  brought  disgrace  upon  the  family  name ;  but  his  theory  does 
not  explain  why  a  wicked  young  man  underwent  a  change  of 
heart,  confessed  his  sin,  and  begged  for  forgiveness. 

"And  because  the  evolutionist  can  not  understand  this  fact, 
one  of  the  most  important  in  the  human  life,  he  can  not  under- 
stand the  infinite  love  of  the  Heavenly  Father  who  stands  ready 
to  welcome  home  any  repentant  sinner,  no  matter  how  far  he 
has  wandered,  how  often  he  has  fallen,  or  how  deep  he  has 
sunk  in  sin. 

"Your  Honor  has  quoted  from  a  wonderful  poem  written  by 
a  great  Tennessee  poet,  Walter  Malone.  I  venture  to  quote 
another  stanza  which  puts  into  exquisite  language  the  new  op- 
portunity which  a  merciful  God  gives  to  everyone  who  will  turn 
from  sin  to  righteousness. 

Though  deep  in  mire,  wring  not  your  hands  and  weep; 

I  lend  my  arm  to  all  who  say,  "I  can." 


402  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

No  shame-faced  outcast  ever  sank  so  deep, 

But  he  might  rise  and  be  again  a  man/ 

"There  are  no  lines  like  these  in  all  that  evolutionists  have 
ever  written.  Darwin  says  that  science  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  Christ  who  taught  the  spirit  embodied  in  the  words  of  Walter 
Malone,  and  yet  this  spirit  is  the  only  hope  of  human  progress. 
A  heart  can  be  changed  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  and  a  change 
in  the  life  follows  a  change  in  the  heart. 

"If  one  heart  can  be  changed,  it  is  possible  that  many  hearts 
can  be  changed — that  a  world  can  be  born  in  a  day.  It  is  this 
fact  that  inspires  all  who  labor  for  man's  betterment.  It  is  be- 
cause Christians  believe  in  individual  regeneration  and  in  the 
regeneration  of  society  through  the  regeneration  of  individuals 
that  they  pray,  'Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven/  Evolution  makes  a  mockery  of  the  Lord's 
prayer. 

"To  interpret  the  words  to  mean  that  the  improvement  de- 
sired must  come  slowly  through  unfolding  ages — a  process  with 
which  each  generation  could  have  little  to  do — is  to  defer  hope, 
and  hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick. 

"Our  fifth  indictment  of  the  evolutionary  hypothesis  is  that, 
if  taken  seriously  and  made  the  basis  of  a  philosophy  of  life, 
it  would  eliminate  love  and  carry  man  back  to  a  struggle  of 
tooth  and  claw.  The  Christians  who  have  allowed  themselves 
to  be  deceived  into  believing  that  evolution  is  a  beneficent,  or 
even  a  rational  process,  have  been  associating  with  those  who 
either  do  not  understand  its  implications  or  dare  not  avow 
their  knowledge  of  these  implications." 

Once  more  the  argument  quotes  from  "The  Descent  of  Man," 
to  show  to  what  a  world  condition  we  must  come  if  the  doctrine 
of  evolution  is  to  be  logically  carried  out. 

"Darwin  reveals  the  barbarous  sentiment  that  runs  through 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  403 

evolution  and  dwarfs  the  moral  nature  of  those  who  become 
obsessed  with  it.  Let  us  analyze  the  quotation  just  given.  Dar- 
win speaks  with  approval  of  the  savage  custom  of  eliminating 
the  weak  so  that  only  the  strong  will  survive  and  complains  that 
'we  civilized  men  do  our  utmost  to  check  the  process  of  elimina- 
tion/ How  inhuman  such  a  doctrine  as  this!  He  thinks  it 
injurious  to  'build  asylums  for  the  imbecile,  the  maimed,  and 
the  sick/  or  to  care  for  the  poor. 

"Even  the  medical  men  come  in  for  criticism  because  they 
'exert  their  utmost  skill  to  save  the  life  of  every  one  to  the  last 
moment/  And  then  note  his  hostility  to  vaccination  because 
it  has  'preserved  thousands  who,  from  a  weak  constitution  would, 
but  for  vaccination,  have  succumbed  to  smallpox/ 

"All  of  the  sympathetic  activities  of  civilized  society  are  con- 
demned because  they  enable  'the  weak  members  to  propagate 
their  kind/  Then  he  drags  mankind  down  to  the  level  of  the 
brute  and  compares  the  freedom  given  to  man  unfavorably  with 
the  restraint  that  we  put  on  barnyard  beasts. 

"  'We  must  therefore  bear'  what  he  regards  as  'the  un- 
doubtedly bad  effect  of  the  weak  surviving  and  propagating  their 
kind/  Could  any  doctrine  be  more  destructive  of  civilization? 
And  what  a  commentary  on  evolution !  He  wants  us  to  believe 
that  evolution  develops  a  human  sympathy  that  finally  becomes 
so  tender,  that  it  repudiates  the  law  that  created  it  and  thus 
invites  a  return  to  a  level  where  the  extinguishing  of  pity  and 
sympathy  will  premit  the  brutal  instincts  to  again  do  their 
progressive  (?)  work. 

"Let  no  one  think  that  this  acceptance  of  barbarism  as  the 
basic  principle  of  evolution  died  with  Darwin.  Within  three 
years  a  book  has  appeared  whose  author  is  even  more  frankly 
brutal  than  Darwin.  The  book  is  entitled  'The  New  Decalogue 
of  Science*  and  has  attracted  wide  attention." 


404  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

From  this  book,  among  other  quotations,  Bryan  takes  the 
following  passage : 

"  'Evolution  is  a  bloody  business,  but  civilization  tries  to 

make  it  a  pink  tea.    Barbarism  is  the  only  process  by  which 

man  has  ever  organically  progressed,  and  civilization  is  the 

only  process  by  which  he  has   ever  organically   declined. 

Civilization  is  the  most  dangerous  enterprise  upon  which 

man  ever  set  out.    For  when  you  take  man  out  of  the  bloody, 

brutal,  but  beneficient,  hand  of  natural  selection  you  place 

him  at  once  in  the  soft,  perfumed,  daintily  gloved,  but  far 

more  dangerous  hand  of  artificial  selection.    And,  unless  you 

call  science  to  your  aid  and  make  this  artificial  selection  as 

efficient  as  the  rude  methods  of  nature,  you  bungle  the  whole 

task/ 

"This  aspect  of  evolution  may  amaze  some  of  the  ministers 

who  have  not  been  admitted  to  the  inner  circle  of  the  iconoclasts 

whose  theories  menace  all  the  ideals  of  civilized  society.     Do 

these  ministers  know  that  'evolution  is  bloody  business?*     Do 

they  know  that  'barbarism  is  the  only  process  by  which  man  has 

ever  organically  progressed?'     Do  they  know  that  'the  bloody, 

brutal  hand  of  natural  selection'  is  'beneficient?'    And  that  the 

'artificial  selection'  found  in  civilization  is  'dangerous?'     What 

shall  we  think  of  the  distinguished  educators  and  scientists  who 

read   the   manuscript  before  publication,   and   did  not   protest 

against  this  pagan  doctrine?" 

There  are  other  quotations,  each  called  in  to  demonstrate 
just  what  evolution  is,  just  what  the  acceptance  of  evolution 
must  do  to  the  faith  of  the  individual.  Then  the  Great  Com- 
moner, never  more  the  silver  tongued  orator  than  here,  even 
with  that  tongue  silenced  by  death,  swings  into  his  peroration. 
"Can  any  Christian  remain  indifferent?  Science  needs  re- 
ligion to  direct  its  energies  and  to  inspire  with  lofty  purpose 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  405 

those  who  employ  the  forces  that  are  unloosed  by  science.  Evo- 
lution is  at  war  with  religion  because  religion  is  supernatural ; 
it  is,  therefore,  the  relentless  foe  of  Christianity,  which  is  a 
revealed  religion. 

"Let  us,  then,  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter. 
Science  is  a  magnificent  material  force,  but  it  is  not  a  teacher 
of  morals.  It  can  perfect  machinery,  but  it  adds  no  moral  re- 
straints to  protect  society  from  the  misuse  of  the  machine.  It 
can  also  build  gigantic  intellectual  ships,  but  it  constructs  no 
moral  rudders  for  the  control  of  storm-tossed  human  vessels.  It 
not  only  fails  to  supply  the  spiritual  element  needed  but  some 
of  its  unproven  hypotheses  rob  the  ship  of  its  compass  and  thus 
endanger  its  cargo. 

"In  war,  science  has  proven  itself  an  evil  genius ;  it  has  made 
war  more  terrible  than  it  ever  was  before.  Man  used  to  be 
content  to  slaughter  his  fellowmen  on  a  single  plane — the  earth's 
surface.  Science  has  taught  him  to  go  down  into  the  water 
and  shoot  up  from  below,  and  to  go  up  into  the  clouds  and  shoot 
down  from  above,  thus  making  the  battlefield  three  times  as 
bloody  as  it  was  before;  but  science  does  not  teach  brotherly 
love. 

"Science  has  made  war  so  hellish  that  civilization  was  about 
to  commit  suicide;  and  now  we  are  told  that  the  newly  dis- 
covered instruments  of  destruction  will  make  the  cruelties  of 
the  late  war  seem  trivial  in  comparison  with  the  cruelties  of 
wars  that  may  come  in  the  future.  If  civilization  is  to  be  saved 
from  the  wreckage  threatened  by  intelligence,  not  consecrated 
by  love,  it  must  be  saved  by  the  moral  code  of  the  meek  and 
lowly  Nazarene.  His  teachings  and  His  teachings  alone,  can 
solve  the  problems  that  vex  the  heart  and  perplex  the  world. 

"The  world  needs  a  savior  more  than  it  ever  did  before,  and 
there  is  only  one  'name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby 


406  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

we  must  be  saved/  It  is  this  name  that  evolution  degrades,  for, 
carried  to  its  logical  conclusion,  it  robs  Christ  of  the  glory  of 
Virgin  Birth,  of  the  majesty  of  His  deity  and  mission,  and  of  the 
triumph  of  His  resurrection.  It  also  disputes  the  doctrine  of 
the  atonement. 

"It  is  for  the  jury  to  determine  whether  this  attack  upon 
the  Christian  religion  shall  be  permitted  in  the  public  schools 
of  Tennessee  by  teachers  employed  by  the  state  and  paid  out 
of  the  public  treasury.  This  case  is  no  longer  local;  the  de- 
fendant ceases  to  play  an  important  part.  The  case  has  assumed 
the  proportions  of  a  battle  royal  between  unbelief  that  attempts 
to  speak  through  socalled  science  and  the  defenders  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  speaking  through  the  legislators  of  Tennessee. 

"It  is  again  a  choice  between  God  and  Baal;  it  is  also  a 
renewal  of  the  issue  in  Pilate's  court. 

"In  that  historic  trial — the  greatest  in  history — force,  im- 
personated by  Pilate,  occupied  the  throne.  Behind  it  was  the 
Roman  government,  mistress  of  the  world,  and  behind  the  Ro- 
man government  were  the  legions  of  Rome. 

"Before  Pilate  stood  Christ,  the  apostle  of  love.  Force 
triumphed;  they  nailed  Him  to  the  tree  and  those  who  stood 
round  mocked  and  jeered  and  said,  'He  is  dead/  But  from  that 
day  the  power  of  Caesar  waned  and  the  power  of  Christ  in- 
creased. 

"In  a  few  centuries  the  Roman  government  was  gone  and  its 
legions  forgotten,  while  the  crucified  and  risen  Lord  has  become 
the  greatest  fact  in  history  and  the  growing  figure  of  all  time. 

"Again  force  and  love  meet  face  to  face,  and  the  question, 
'What  shall  I  do  with  Jesus?'  must  be  answered.  A  bloody, 
brutal  doctrine — evolution — demands,  as  the  rabble  did  1,900 
years  ago,  that  He  be  crucified.  That  can  not  be  the  answer  of 
this  jury,  representing  a  Christian  state  and  sworn  to  uphold 


LIFE  AFTER  DEATH  407 

the  laws  of  Tennessee.    Your  answer  will  be  heard  throughout 
the  world ;  it  is  eagerly  waited  by  a  praying  multitude. 

"If  the  law  is  nullified,  there  will  be  rejoicing  wherever  God 
is  repudiated,  the  Savior  scoffed  at  and  the  Bible  ridiculed. 

"Every  unbeliever  of  every  kind  and  degree  will  be  happy. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  law  is  upheld  and  the  religion  of  the 
school  children  protected,  millions  of  Christians  will  call  you 
blessed  and,  with  hearts  full  of  gratitude  to  God,  will  sing  again 
that  grand  old  song  of  triumph. 

'Faith  of  our  fathers,  living  still, 
In  spite  of  dungeon,  fire  and  sword ; 
Oh  how  our  hearts  beat  high  with  joy, 
When'er  we  hear  that  glorious  word, 
Faith  of  our  fathers — holy  faith ; 
We  will  be  true  to  Thee  till  death/  " 
Such  is  Bryan's  last  great  address.     Had  he  given  it,  as  he 
planned,  in  the  courtroom,  the  verdict  of  the  future  surely  would 
have  granted  it  a  place  beside  that  other  great  plea  of  1896,  the 
"Cross  of  Gold"  speech.     As  it  is,  coming  as  it  were  from  the 
lips  of  the  man  after  his  death,  it  will  forever  hold  a  place  more 
than  equal  but  set  apart  from  all  other  utterances  of  the  Great 
Commoner. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 


Well  Done,  Faithful  Servant 

Official  Announcement  of  Bryan's  Death — President  Coolidge's 
Tribute — Clarence  Darrow — Vice-President  Dawes — William  H. 
Taft— John  W.  Davis— The  Rev.  John  Roach  Stratton— William 
C.  Redfield — Germany — Judge  Raulston — Tribute  and  Plan  for 
Memorial  School — Plans  to  Lead  Trip  to  Holy  Land  Disclosed. 

By  order  of  President  Coolidge,  the  death  of  Bryan  was  formally 
announced  from  Washington  by  Secretary  of  State  Frank  B. 
Kellogg.    The  announcement  read : 

"By  direction  of  the  President,  the  undersigned  is  charged  with 
the  sad  duty  of  announcing  the  death  on  July  26,  1925,  at  Dayton, 
Tenn.,  of  William  Jennings  Bryan,  a  distinguished  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  formerly  a  representative  in  Congress  from  the  state 
of  Nebraska,  a  colonel  in  the  Spanish-American  war,  and  Secretary 
of  State. 

"In  all  these  capacities  his  services  were  characterized  by  a  faith- 
fulness to  duty  and  a  devotion  to  public  interest.  His  private  life 
was  one  for  the  emulation  of  all  American  citizens.  Thrice  the 
nominee  of  a  great  political  party,  his  death  will  be  especially 
mourned  by  a  large  personal  following  who  held  him  in  affectionate 
esteem. 

"As  a  testimony  of  this  respect,  it  is  ordered  by  the  President 
that  the  national  flag  be  displayed  at  half  staff  on  the  national  build- 
ings at  Washington  on  the  date  of  the  funeral. 

"FRANK  B.  KELLOGG." 

It  was  but  one  of  thousands  of  eulogies  of  the  Great  Commoner, 
to  be  sent  by  mail  and  telegraph  to  Mrs.  Bryan  and  to  be  printed  in 
the  press  of  America. 

President  Coolidge  sent  a  long  telegram  of  sympathy  to  the 

408 


WELL  DONE,  FAITHFUL  SERVANT  409 

widow.  The  President  and  Mr.  Bryan  differed  on  almost  every 
important  political  question,  yet  the  two  had  a  sincere  respect  and 
admiration  for  each  other.  Whenever  Bryan  was  in  Washington 
he  never  failed  to  call  at  the  White  House  to  pay  his  respects.  Just 
a  short  time  before  Bryan's  departure  for  Dayton  he  had  lunched 
there  as  the  guest  of  the  President  and  Mrs.  Coolidge. 

Mr.  Coolidge  was  sensible  of  the  great  charm  of  Bryan  as 
a  conversationalist  and  told,  as  he  sent  his  message  of  condolence 
to  Mrs.  Bryan,  of  the  pleasure  and  interest  with  which  he  had  lis- 
tened to  Bryan's  reminiscences  of  the  man  and  the  events  which  had 
marked  the  Commoner's  long  career. 

To  Mrs.  Bryan  the  President  wired : 

"The  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Bryan  brought  a  sense  of  personal 
loss  to  Mrs.  Coolidge  and  myself.  It  was  only  the  other  day  he 
had  been  our  guest  at  the  White  House.  We  wish  to  extend  to  you 
and  your  family  our  most  heartfelt  sympathy. 

"Mr.  Bryan  has  been  a  prominent  figure  in  public  affairs  for  a 
third  of  a  century.  He  has  been  a  leader  in  the  advocacy  of  many 
moral  reforms  and  was  representative  of  the  effort  for  purity  in  our 
political  life.    He  was  endowed  with  the  great  gift  of  eloquence. 

"The  sincerity  of  his  motives  was  beyond  dispute.  He  was  three 
times  chosen  the  head  of  a  great  political  party  and  held  the  exalted 
office  of  Secretary  of  State.  His  career  is  another  example  of  what 
American  opportunity  affords  to  those  who  have  the  will  indus- 
triously to  apply  themselves. 

"It  would  be  difficult  to  find  among  his  contemporaries  any  one 
with  so  large  a  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances  who  had  so  gen- 
erously bestowed  upon  him  their  esteem  and  confidence. 

"I  trust  that  you  may  be  given  great  consolation  in  remember- 
ing all  his  worth  and  in  the  abiding  faith  that  a  Divine  Providence 
has  ordered  all  things  well. 

"CALVIN  COOLIDGE." 


410  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

In  the  death  of  the  Great  Commoner,  all  political  and  religious 
differences  were  laid  away  and  the  notable  men  of  the  United  States 
spoke  of  Bryan  in  highest  praise,  forgetting  for  the  time  being 
whether  they  had  fought  at  his  side  or  in  the  ranks  of  the  opposition. 

Clarence  Darrow,  his  latest  and  perhaps  his  most  bitter  opponent, 
declared : 

"I  have  known  Mr.  Bryan  since  1896,  and  supported  him  twice 
for  the  Presidency.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and  al- 
ways espoused  his  cause  with  ability  and  courage.  I  differed  with 
him  on  many  questions  but  always  respected  his  sincerity  and 
devotion." 

Said  Vice-President  Charles  G.  Dawes: 

"I  have  been  a  friend  of  Mr.  Bryan  for  thirty-eight  years,  since 
we  started  as  young  lawyers  in  Lincoln,  Neb.  Throughout  all  these 
years  there  shows  his  resplendent  high  personal  character.  In  all 
he  did,  Mr.  Bryan  was  in  earnest.  He  never  did  unworthy  or  mean 
things.  He  may  have  been  mistaken  at  times,  as  we  all  are,  but  he 
was  trying  always  to  do  the  right  as  he  saw  it." 

William  H.  Taft,  former  President  and  present  chief  justice  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  wired  Mrs.  Bryan : 

"Mrs.  Taft  and  I  extend  to  you  our  heartfelt  sympathy.  Mr. 
Bryan  and  I  were  long  time  friends,  though  usually  opposed  on 
the  issues  of  the  day.  His  will  be  a  most  notable  figure  in  our 
political  history.  He  has  had  a  remarkable  personal  following  be- 
cause they  believed  in  him,  his  patriotism,  his  political  views,  and 
they  will  greatly  miss  his  courage  and  leadership." 

The  antagonism  and  the  bitterness  and  the  ridicule  were  melted 
away,  and  there  showed  in  those  who  spoke  only  kindness  and  sor- 
row for  their  friend's  passing. 

Said  John  W.  Davis,  former  ambassador  to  Great  Britain  and  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  President  in  1924 : 

"The  depressing  news  of  Mr.  Bryan's  death  must  prove  a  great 


WELL  DONE,  FAITHFUL  SERVANT  411 

shock  not  only  to  his  friends  but  to  the  country  at  large.  I  am  most 
deeply  grieved  by  it.  No  other  man  of  his  generation  has  been  so 
long  identified  with  public  questions  or  has  been  so  universally 
known  throughout  the  United  States.  Although  many  of  the  things 
put  forward  by  him  were  not  accepted,  I  think  it  is  only  fair  to 
say  few  men,  if  any,  have  lived  to  see  so  many  of  the  policies  they 
advocated  enacted  into  law. 

"His  incalculable  influence  upon  public  thought  cannot  be  meas- 
ured, however,  only  by  the  standards  of  personal  or  political  success. 
If  he  had  done  no  more  than  furnish  to  the  men  of  his  day  an  out- 
standing example  of  unflinching  moral  courage,  he  would  have 
rendered  a  great  service  to  his  age.  This  virtue  earned  him  the 
respect  even  of  those  who  most  profoundly  disagreed  with  him.  He 
was  never  content  until  he  had  discovered  what  he  believed  was 
the  moral  right  or  wrong  of  every  public  question.  When  this  had 
been  decided  he  was  unwavering. 

"The  country  is  poorer  for  his  loss." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  John  Roach  Straton,  pastor  of  Calvary  Baptist 
church,  New  York,  who  was  a  friend  of  many  years'  standing,  paid 
this  tribute  to  Mr.  Bryan : 

"I  received  this  sad  message  only  a  moment  ago.  It  is  a  great 
shock  to  me,  a  shock  so  great  that  I  can  scarcely  speak.  I  loved 
Mr.  Bryan  and  I  knew  him  intimately.  Through  our  good  fellow- 
ship I  came  to  know  the  depths  of  his  great  soul  and  his  noble  mind. 
I  regarded  him  as  one  of  the  outstanding  figures  of  this  modern 
world. 

"Mr.  Bryan  was  a  patriot,  a  great  patriot.  If  ever  a  man  loved 
his  country  he  did.  He  was  a  patriot  and  an  intelligent  one.  He 
loved  his  country  not  only  for  its  history  but  in  the  light  of  its 
ideals.  He  was  one  of  the  men  who  appreciated  the  fact  that  this 
American  Republic  came  into  being  through  religion.    I  feel  that  the 


412  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

country  has  suffered  an  irreparable  loss.  A  Prince  in  Israel  has 
fallen. 

"It  was  fitting  that  the  last  act  of  his  noble  life  should  have  been 
his  glorious  fight  at  Dayton  in  defense  of  the  old  religion,  in  support 
of  the  old  faith.  I  was  just  this  evening  finishing  a  letter  to  him, 
in  which  I  sent  him  a  message  of  cheer  and  suggested  to  him  that 
he  participate  in  plans  I  had  in  mind  for  a  great  revival  meeting  in 
this  city  in  the  near  future. 

"Mr.  Bryan  was  a  real  Christian,  and  I  am  sure  that  he  has  gone 
home  to  be  with  God  forever." 

William  C.  Redfield,  Secretary  of  Commerce  in  the  cabinet  of 
President  Wilson,  when  Mr.  Bryan  was  Secretary  of  State,  recalled 
the  resignation  of  the  Commoner  and  the  President's  effort  to  have 
him  continue  with  the  administration. 

"I  think  I  was  the  first  person,  next  to  the  President,  to  hear 
of  Mr.  Bryan's  resignation  as  Secretary  of  State,"  said  Mr.  Redfield. 
"I  had  an  appointment  with  the  President  and  he  was  late,  an  un- 
usual incident  for  him,  and  I  waited  in  the  White  House  office  for 
half  an  hour.  Then  the  President  came  down  the  stairs  and  an- 
nounced he  had  just  left  Mr.  Bryan,  who  had  resigned,  and  that 
he  had  tried  to  have  Mr.  Bryan  reconsider  and  withdraw  his 
resignation. 

"Afterward  Mrs.  Bryan  told  me  that  her  husband  had  walked 
the  floor  most  of  the  night  preceding  his  resignation  to  the  President, 
trying  to  reach  a  decision  as  to  the  best  course  to  follow,  and  he 
finally  decided  that  it  was  his  duty  under  the  circumstances  to  retire 
from  the  Cabinet." 

Mr.  Redfield  was  shocked  when  informed  of  the  death  of  Mr. 
Bryan.  In  his  personal  tribute  he  said  he  had  known  Mr.  Bryan 
very  well  for  years,  had  held  him  in  the  highest  personal  esteem 
and  as  a  public  figure  of  the  highest  character,  though  he  had  not 


WELL  DONE,  FAITHFUL  SERVANT  413 

always  been  able  to  agree  with  him  and  had  never  supported  him 
in  any  of  his  campaigns  for  the  Presidency. 

"I  have  no  doubt,"  Mr.  Redfield  continued,  "that  the  outstanding 
public  service  of  Mr.  Bryan  was  in  1913,  when  he  smoothed  over  the 
threatened  difficulty  between  the  United  States  and  Japan.  We  owe 
to  his  tact  and  good  judgment  at  that  time  the  amicable  adjustment 
which  succeeded  his  efforts. " 

In  Germany  they  mourned  the  man  who  had  tried  to  find  a  way 
to  peace  in  their  darkest  hour.  President  Paul  Loebe  of  the  Reich- 
stag declared : 

"We  learn  with  sincere  regret  of  the  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Bryan, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  figures  in  the  political  world.  Germany 
especially  regrets  his  passing,  since  he  was  one  of  the  few  whose 
efforts  during  and  after  the  war  were  bent  toward  lasting  peace.  His 
friendship  during  our  darkest  days  was  an  inspiration.  He  hated 
war  and  loved  peace.    We  have  lost  a  friend." 

Bryan,  it  was  learned  from  a  friend  after  his  death,  was  to  have 
gone  on  a  long  trip  within  a  short  time,  leading  a  pilgrimage  of 
hundreds  of  his  followers  to  the  Holy  Land.  Announcement  of  the 
journey  had  been  planned  for  the  very  near  future.  It  was  to  have 
been  a  crowning  of  Bryan's  career. 

Instead  of  that,  the  ultimate  journey  was  from  the  Rogers  house 
and  the  simple  services  in  Dayton,  by  special  train,  to  Washington, 
to  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  church  and  then  to  the  Na- 
tional Cemetery  at  Arlington. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 


Earth  to  Earth 

From  Dayton  to  Washington — The  New  York  Avenue  Presby- 
terian Church — Lying  in  State — Guard  of  Honor — Throngs  Pass 
the  Bier — Flowers  and  Rain — The  Pallbearers — "One  Sweetly 
Solemn  Thought" — Kelso  Rice,  Policeman — "I  Am  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life"— Twenty-third  and  Nineteenth  Psalms— I  Co- 
rinthians: 15 — John:  14 — Dr.  Sizoo's  Address — Arlington — Taps — 
"In  Return,  He  Loved  You  With  Tender  Affection." 

It  was  a  simple  journey  but  a  triumphant  one,  from  Tennessee 
to  the  capital.  Along  the  right  of  way  followers  of  the  Com- 
moner gathered  to  pay  him  final  honor.  At  every  stop  where 
there  was  sufficient  time,  men  and  women  and  children  crowded 
up  the  steps  of  the  private  car,  to  enter  and  look  reverently  into 
the  coffin  with  its  draping  of  flags. 

More  crowds  were  at  the  station  in  Washington  when  the 
train  bearing  the  body  came  in.  In  silence  they  expressed  their 
sympathy  to  Mrs.  Bryan.  She  smiled  and  thanked  three  stal- 
wart attendants  who  lifted  her  from  the  train  and  carried  her 
to  a  wheel  chair.  Her  daughter,  Mrs.  Ruth  Owen,  was  with 
her  and  the  two  went  to  the  Lafayette  hotel,  to  stay  there 
during  the  funeral.  During  his  lifetime  Bryan  preferred  that 
hotel  because  no  bar  was  included  in  the  original  plans  of  the 
building. 

From  the  station,  Bryan's  body  was  taken  to  the  churcn  to 
lie  there  in  state.  From  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  ten 
at  night,  on  the  day  before  the  funeral,  the  body  lay  there  in 
the  austere  interior  of  the  building.  Silent,  motionless  veterans 
of  the  Spanish-American  war  stood  guard  by  the  casket  where 

414 


EARTH  TO  EARTH  415 

the  former  colonel  of  the  3d  Nebraska  volunteers  of  '98  slept 
in  death. 

The  bare,  rectangular  auditorium  bespoke  the  simplicity  that 
had  been  the  Commoner's  in  life.  The  only  decorations,  in 
contrast  to  the  white  rails  of  the  balcony,  the  white-painted 
pew  ends,  and  the  white  fluted  columns  back  of  the  altar,  were 
an  American  flag  hanging  from  its  staff  at  the  right  of  the  dais, 
and  a  great  wreath  of  lilies  and  ivy  leaves,  bearing  on  a  white 
card  the  legend,  "From  the  Secretary  of  State." 

On  the  front  of  the  altar,  directly  behind  the  bronze  casket, 
were  inscribed  the  words,  "In  Remembrance  of  Me." 

All  day,  and  long  after  dark  the  sorrowing  followers  of  the 
dead  crusader  came.  Men,  women,  children,  babes  in  arms — 
representatives  of  every  race,  nationality,  creed,  and  political 
party — they  filed  by  the  casket  in  a  steady  stream  of  humanity. 
Up  the  front  steps  of  the  old  brick  edifice  they  marched  silently, 
past  the  casket,  and  out  by  a  side  stairway  leading  to  the  Sunday 
school  rooms  below.  It  was  estimated  that  at  least  two  thousand 
persons  passed  by  every  hour;  after  the  government  offices  let 
out  there  were  many  more  than  that. 

Up  by  the  right  hand  aisle  they  came  to  the  casket,  and  down 
by  the  left  to  go  out,  many  dabbing  handkerchiefs  at  moist  eyes, 
and  some  dropping  into  a  rear  pew  for  a  moment,  to  kneel  there 
in  prayer. 

The  setting  was  the  same  the  next  afternoon,  July  31,  when 
Bryan  was  to  be  laid  to  rest.  But  added  to  it  were  the  scores 
of  floral  tributes,  covering  the  chancel,  the  altar,  every  available 
bit  of  space  in  the  front  of  the  church,  with  a  banking  of  scent 
and  color.  Roses  and  lilies  were  everywhere.  An  open  Bible 
of  white  flowers  bearing  across  its  pages  the  inscription  "The 
Prince  of  Peace"  was  the  gift  of  the  Jackson  Democratic  asso- 


416  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

ciation  of  which  Bryan  was  made  an  honorary  member  back 
in  '96. 

The  wreath  from  the  Secretary  of  State  was  there  and  a 
large  cross  of  lilies  from  the  Bryan  family  stood  in  front  of  the 
casket.  Two  clusters  of  flowers  lay  on  the  casket  itself,  one 
a  spray  from  the  Commoner's  great  granddaughter,  born  during 
the  1924  convention;  the  other,  a  wreath  of  pink  roses  sent  by 
President  and  Mrs.  Coolidge. 

Since  early  morning  it  had  been  raining,  a  steady  drizzle 
marked  by  sudden  downpours,  but  the  storm  had  not  kept  away 
the  throngs.  During  the  morning  those  who  had  not  had  the 
chance  the  day  before,  filed  past  the  casket  in  a  long  procession. 
As  two  forty-five,  the  hour  of  the  funeral,  drew  near  the  church 
began  to  fill.  Every  pew  was  taken  long  before  the  services 
began,  and  hundreds,  not  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  tickets  of 
admission,  stood  uncomplainingly  in  the  wet,  outside. 

In  the  front  pews  sat  the  active  and  the  honorory  pallbearers. 
The  active  pallbearers  were:  former  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
josephus  Daniels,  Senator  Duncan  U.  Fletcher  of  Florida,  Col. 
P.  M.  Callahan  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  Charles  A.  Lord  of  Lincoln, 
Neb.,  M.  F.  Dunlap  of  Jacksonville,  111.,  and  State  Senator 
Charles  E.  Hull  of  Salem,  111. 

The  honorary  list  included :  Senators  Swanson  of  Virginia, 
Ashurst  of  Arizona,  Sheppard  of  Texas,  McKellar  of  Tennessee, 
and  Norris  of  Nebraska;  Representatives  Oldfield  of  Arkansas, 
Upshaw  of  Georgia,  and  Yates  of  Illinois ;  Gov.  Donahey  of 
Ohio,  former  Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson  of  Pennsylvania,  Bishop 
Thomas  Nicholson  of  Michigan,  former  Senator  Hitchcock  of 
Nebraska,  John  Skelton  Williams  of  Virginia,  Clem  Shaver  of 
West  Virginia,  Edward  F.  Goltra  of  Missouri,  James  Kirby  Risk 
of  Indiana,  Norman  F.  Mack  of  New  York,  Howard  Russell  of 
Ohio,  Charles  F.  Douglas  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  Charles 


EARTH  TO  EARTH  417 

F.  Horner  of  Missouri,  and  Manton  Wyvell  of  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

Secretary  of  State  Kellogg  sat  in  the  front  pew  on  the  right, 
the  official  representative  of  the  government.  The  official  rep- 
resentatives of  the  war  and  navy  departments,  in  uniform,  occu- 
pied the  famous  Lincoln  pew.  Representatives  of  the  diplomatic 
corps  were  just  behind  the  Secretary  of  State.  Two  large  delega- 
tions of  war  veterans,  one  of  men  who  fought  in  the  Spanish- 
American  war,  the  other  of  members  of  the  American  Legion, 
sat  in  the  body  of  the  church,  to  right  and  left  of  the  aisle. 

The  soft  strains  of  the  organ  playing  "Lead  Kindly  Light" 
began   the   service.     The   church   quartet   took   up   the   words. 
Then  organ  and  singers  swept  into  Mrs.  Bryan's  favorite  hymn : 
"One  sweetly  solemn  thought 
Comes  to  me  o'er  and  o'er; 
I'm  nearer  home  today 

Than  I  ever  have  been  before." 

With  the  last  notes,  the  procession  began  its  slow  march 
down  the  aisle.  In  the  lead  came  a  figure  in  blue,  the  blue  of 
the  policeman,  star  shining,  vizored  cap  tilted  a  bit  to  the  back 
and  on  one  side.  It  was  a  figure  strangely  incongruous  in  this 
solemn  setting,  yet  one  rightly  fitting.  Kelso  Rice  of  the  Chatta- 
nooga police  force  was  keeping  his  trust.  Back  in  Dayton 
he  had  been  one  of  the  detail  sent  to  do  special  duty  in  the 
courtroom.  On  Bryan's  death  he  had  come  to  Mrs.  Bryan  to 
offer  his  services  as  a  guard  over  the  body  of  her  husband,  and 
over  her.  Appreciatively,  Mrs.  Bryan  had  accepted  the  offer. 
To  Kelso  Rice,  the  man  he  had  met  and  watched  during  the 
Scopes  trial  was  the  greatest,  the  most  to  be  admired  and  revered 
figure,  he  had  encountered  during  his  life. 

Behind  the  tall  policeman  walked  the  Rev.  George  R.  Stuart 
of  Birmingham,  Ala.,  and  beside  him  the  Rev.   Dr.  Joseph  R. 


418  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Sizoo,  pastor  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  church,  who 
conducted  the  services. 

As  he  approached  the  dais  and  the  casket  upon  it,  Dr.  Sizoo 
began  to  intone  the  service  for  the  dead: 

"  'I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,"  saith  the  Lord ;  'he 
that  believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live, 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me  shall  never  die/  " 

Then  followed  Mrs.  Bryan  and  William  Jennings  Bryan,  Jr., 
she  in  her  wheel  chair,  with  a  spray  of  orchids  in  her  clasped 
hands,  he  with  a  reassuring  arm  placed  about  his  mother's 
shoulders.  Behind  them  came  the  other  members  of  the  family, 
Mrs.  Ruth  Owen  and  Mrs.  Grace  Hargreaves,  the  daughters, 
with  their  husbands ;  Charles  W.  Bryan,  the  brother,  wearing  his 
black  skull  cap;  Mrs.  T.  S.  Allen  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Baird,  the 
sisters.  Mrs.  Bryan's  wheel  chair  was  pushed  up  to  the  end 
of  the  second  pew,  which  was  reserved  for  the  family.  Her 
son  sat  on  the  arm  of  the  pew,  with  the  comforting  hand  still 
on  her  shoulder. 

The  Spanish  war  veterans  who  had  guarded  the  casket  took 
their  seats  as  the  service  commenced.  Only  one  man  stood  by 
the  still  form  of  the  fallen  leader,  the  tall  blue  figure  again,  of 
Kelso  Rice. 

From  the  pulpit,  Dr.  Sizoo  read  the  words  of  the  Twenty- 
Third  Psalm,  "The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,,, — through  to,  "and  I 
will  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  forever."  And  the  Ninetieth 
Psalm — "For  a  thousand  years  in  Thy  sight  are  but  as  yester- 
day." Next,  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  I  Corinthians,  ending  with 
its  unforgettable  words: 

"Behold,  I  shew  you  a  mystery:  We  shall  not  all  sleep,  but 
we  shall  all  be  changed.  In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  at  the  last  trump:  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the 
dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be  changed. 


EARTH  TO  EARTH  419 

For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this,  mortal 
must  put  on  immortality.  So  when  this  corruptible  shall  have 
put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immor- 
tality, then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written, 
Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory. 

"O  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory? 
The  sting  of  death  is  sin;  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law. 
But  thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  stead- 
fast, unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the 
Lord." 

Then  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  according  to 
St.  John,  with  its  words  of  the  Savior:  "In  my  Father's  house 
are  many  mansions:  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you. 
I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,"  and,  "I  am  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life:  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by  me." 

Dr.  Sizoo  offered  the  invocation;  at  its  conclusion  the  con- 
gregation repeated  the  Lord's  Prayer.  In  this  prayer  the  pastor 
called  down  a  blessing  upon  the  policeman  standing  faithfully  at 
the  head  of  the  casket — "this  humble  man  of  the  hills,  who  has 
stood  by  and  watched  over  this  great  man,  even  as  our  Savior 
was  guarded  by  Joseph  of  Arimathea." 

From  the  choir  came  the  chanted  words  Bryan  loved  so  well, 
"Faith  of  our  fathers,  living  still — ." 

Dr.  Sizoo  began  his  funeral  address.  He  told  how  years 
before  he  had  been  one  of  a  group  of  midwestern  students  who 
had  listened  to  the  man  who  now  lay  still  in  death  in  his  coffin. 
He  told  how  the  words  of  William  Jennings  Bryan  had  changed 
the  course  of  his  entire  life  and  had  sent  him  into  the  ministry. 

"Some  years  ago,"  he  said,  "it  seems  only  like  yesterday — Mr. 
Bryan  delivered  a  lecture  to  a  group  of  some  five  hundred  stu- 


420  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

dents  in  a  midwestern  college.  His  theme  was,  'The  Value  of  an 
Ideal/  He  spoke  with  that  amazing  clarity  which  so  character- 
ized all  his  addresses  not  only  of  the  place  of  an  ideal  in  life,  but 
also  of  the  various  ideals  which  men  may  hold,  and  then  that 
highest  of  all  ideals — Christian  service. 

"How  profoundly  he  moved  that  group  of  young  men,  Mr. 
Bryan  never  knew.  There  was  one  student  in  that  audience  for 
whom  it  changed  the  whole  program  of  his  life.  This  student 
was  a  freshman  at  college  that  year  with  the  plan  of  preparing 
for  some  professional  career.  The  plea  for  Christian  service 
made  by  this  great  heart  of  faith  never  left  him  and  following 
that  urge  he  later  entered  the  Christian  ministry. 

"I  was  that  student.  That  stirring  plea  marked  the  beginning 
of  a  whole  new  attitude  to  life,  and  I  bring  my  testimony  to  the 
memory  of  a  man  who  never  knew  how  greatly  he  had  changed 
that  life.  Surely  it  is  unique  that,  as  he  lies  here  dead  among 
us,  I  should  bear  witness  to  his  influence  in  this  most  solemn 
hour. 

"How  strange  are  the  ways  of  God,  and  how  otherwise  from 
our  desires.  Had  it  been  given  to  us  to  control  the  affairs  of 
life,  how  different  would  it  have  been.  Earth  can  ill  spare  such 
noble  souls.  His  ability  was  so  striking,  his.  sincerity  was  so 
genuine,  his  personality  was  so  winsome,  and  his  faith  so  serene 
that  we  had  hoped  to  have  him  longer  with  us.  We  seem  to 
need  him  so! 

"But  God  willed  otherwise;  and  until  the  daybreak,  when 
shadows  flee  away,  we  reverently  kneel  in  submission  to  pray, 
'Father,  Thy  will  be  done/ 

"To  this  broken  family  circle,  whose  days  have  so  suddenly 
and  sadly  turned  to  sorrow  and  loneliness,  the  sympathy  and 
prayers  of  the  nation  go  out.  Somehow  you  must  be  sustained 
by  the  innumerable  prayers  of  the  people  of  the  land  who  are 


EARTH  TO  EARTH  421 

kneeling  today  at  the  hearth-stone  of  your  broken  home.  When 
the  golden  bowl  is  broken  and  the  silver  cord  is  loosed,  we  pause, 
we  wonder,  we  weep;  but  God  doeth  all  things  well  and  you 
may  abide  in  the  promise  that  underneath  and  round  you  are 
His  everlasting  arms. 

"We  talk  about  unfulfilled  dreams  and  incomplete  lives  and 
broken  circles ;  but  with  God  there  is  no  unfinished  life  and  there 
are  no  broken  circles.  Jesus — dead  at  thirty-three — cried  out 
exultantly  from  the  cross :  'It  is  finished.'  So  is  every  life  that 
follows  God's  will. 

"When  is  a  life  finished,  you  ask?  When  the  seeds  of  its 
influence  have  dropped  into  the  lives  of  others,  enriching  them. 
A  life  is  finished  when  other  lives  are  lit  up  by  it  and  walk  in 
its  strength.  A  life  is  finished  when  those  around  it  have 
caught  the  splendor  of  its  power  and  live  happier,  nobler  and 
truer. 

"If  that  is  true,  then  this  great  heart  lived  a  finished  life. 
The  heritage  of  that  life  it  may  take  long  to  measure.  Multi- 
tudes have  caught  the  splendor  of  it  and  lived  by  its  guiding 
light. 

"It  is  to  rehearse  this  splendor  that  we  have  come  today. 
Praise  or  blame  do  not  affect  him  now  unto  an  evergrowing 
fullness  and  likeness  of  his  God  and  our  God.  They  never  dis- 
turbed his  convictions.  He  was  far  above  all  that  on  earth  and 
he  is  far  beyond  all  that  now.  Nothing  we  say  or  do  can  in 
any  way  add  or  detract  from  him.  It  is  for  us  to  see  again  the 
glory  of  that  life  and  heed  its  heritage. 

"There  was  a  three-fold  splendor  about  this  noble  man  which 
will  ever  challenge  those  who  have  lived  in  his  day  and  who  are 
to  carry  on  in  the  days  to  come : 

"First.  He  had  a  capacity  for  noble  living.  His  life  was 
an  open  book  beyond  all  possible  reproach.  His  character  was 
unsullied  to  the  very  end.     You  can  turn  the  searching  light 


422  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

of  a  critical  publicity  on  any  page  of  his  past,  through  all  man- 
ner of  personal  and  political  fortunes  of  later  life,  and  not  one 
page  is  smutted  or  soiled  or  stained.  There  was  no  shadow  or 
self-seeking  or  gain  in  him.  There  was  no  skeleton  in  the  closet. 
You  do  not  have  to  tread  softly  over  any  episode.  Friend  and 
foe  call  him  a  man  whose  great  concern  was  the  causes  he  espoused, 
and  to  those  causes  he  came  with  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart. 
Not  only  for  what  he  said,  but  for  what  he  was,  will  his  name  be 
treasured. 

"Second.  He  had  a  deep  capacity  for  love.  He  was  a  great 
friend  and  never  played  fast  and  loose  with  friendship.  Some 
men  are  not  big  enough  to  have  friends,  because  they  are  not 
big  enough  to  be  friends,  but  not  so  with  him.  Political  op- 
position never  lost  him  personal  friendships.  His  love  was 
genuine  with  rich  and  poor  alike,  it  knew  no  border,  breed  or 
birth.  ...  It  may  take  decades  to  measure  the  urge  and  hope 
for  peace  he  provided  for  the  nation  in  his  day  and  generation. 

"Third.  He  had  a  rich  capacity  for  faith.  Any  summary 
of  the  heritage  of  his  life,  however  brief,  would  be  utterly  un- 
worthy if  it  did  not  bear  witness  to  his  unfaltering  faith  in  God. 
You  will  never  know  this  man  until  you  know  him  there.  He 
was  essentially  a  religious  man. 

"He  was  not  disillusioned  about  the  world.  He  knew  its 
ills  and  its  failures.  .  .  .  How  often  he  said  that  happiness  will 
be  restored,  prosperity  will  beat  again  with  its  angel  wings  and 
peace  will  come  with  its  eternal  abiding,  when  men  come 
back  to  the  simple  elemental  forces  of  life-like  honesty,  rev- 
erence and  faith  in  God.  .  .  . 

"Nothing  else  explains  the  greatness  of  the  man  like  the 
greatness  of  his  faith.  That  was  unchallengeable,  irresistible, 
and  burned  with  a  quenchless  fire. 

".  .  .  Some  day,  perhaps,  we  may  see  his  great  contribution 
to  life  and  the  final  heritage  that  he  has  come  to  leave.     He  has 


EARTH  TO  EARTH  423 

rebuilt  the  altar  of  faith  in  God  and  covered  that  altar  with  his 
very  life.  It  was  faith  that  gave  such  sweep  to  his  helpful 
service. 

"What  a  challenge  is  such  a  life  to  all  who  falter;  what  a 
comfort  to  all  who  believe;  what  an  indictment  upon  all  who 
reject  it;  what  a  prophecy  of  power  to  all  who  make  it  real. 

"We  shall  see  him  again,  for  such  a  life  cannot  die.  I  like 
to  believe  that  somewhere  in  that  better  country  where  the  sun 
goes  not  down,  where  twilight  breaks  into  eternal  dawn,  where 
God  wipes  away  all  tears  from  our  eyes,  where  there  is  no  pain 
and  where  the  flowers  fade  not  away,  he  is  still  carrying  on 
with  the  same  sweet  faith  and  same  noble  spirit." 

The  benediction  was  given,  and  to  the  strains  of  Chopin's 
funeral  march  the  casket  was  borne  out  of  the  church.  Just 
as  it  reached  the  outside  there  was  a  sudden  burst  of  rain,  but 
the  drenched  crowd  of  mourners  who  could  not  find  a  place 
inside  still  stood  patiently,  to  watch  the  casket  placed  in  the 
hearse  and  the  funeral  party  get  into  the  waiting  automobiles. 

They  had  suggested  to  Mrs.  Bryan  a  full  military  funeral, 
with  the  body  of  her  husband  borne  on  a  caisson  and  guarded 
by  troopers.  But  she  would  not  have  it  so.  Her  husband  was 
a  man  of  peace,  she  said,  and  she  would  consent  only  to  a 
semi-military  burial. 

The  cortege  turned  down  13th  street  to  Pennsylvania  avenue, 
then  down  15th  street  toward  Potomac  Park  and  the  bridge 
across  the  river.  At  the  south  gate  of  Arlington  Cemetery 
waited  the  band  of  the  3d  cavalry  and  a  battalion  of  the  16th 
field  artillery,  all  dismounted  and  bearing  side  arms  only.  The 
band  struck  up  the  funeral  march  from  "Saul"  and  to  its  slow 
cadence  the  procession  moved  to  the  knoll  and  the  grave  beneath 
a  great  elm.  The  knoll  overlooked  the  national  capital,  the 
city  Bryan  loved.  To  one  side  was  the  grave  of  the  Unknown 
Soldier. 


424  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Pressed  against  the  dripping  ropes  which  marked  off  the 
burial  site,  thousands  stood  reverently,  unmindful  of  clothing 
soaked  through  by  the  downpour.  Over  the  grave,  a  tent  of 
army  khaki  was  stretched.  Soldiers  bore  the  casket  from  the 
hearse,  with  Policeman  Rice  following  close  behind.  He  stood 
at  the  gravehead  as  Dr.  Sizoo  and  the  venerable  Dr.  Stuart 
read  the  burial  service.  In  their  slickers,  shiny  with  the  wet, 
the  soldiers  stood  at  "parade  rest,"  then  at  "present,"  and  finally 
at  "attention,"  as  the  notes  of  taps,  the  soldier's  requiem,  solemn, 
sweet,  began. 

From  the  door  of  the  car  which  she  had  not  left,  Mrs. 
Bryan  listened  and  watched.  The  rain  had  slackened  and  just 
as  the  first  notes  of  the  bugle  were  heard,  the  sun  crept  out  from 
behind  the  lowering  clouds.  Just  for  a  moment;  then  the 
clouds  drifted  close  again. 

William  Jennings  Bryan  slept. 

It  was  on  the  day  after  the  funeral  that  the  flag  that  had 
draped  her  husband's  casket  was  brought  to  Mrs.  Bryan.  The 
hands  that  gave  it  to  her  were  those  of  the  policeman,  Kelso 
Rice. 

She  thanked  him  for  the  services  which  had  measured  the 
devotion  he  felt  for  the  leader  he  had  just  found,  only  to  lose  so 
soon,  and  she  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  blue-clad  son  of  the 
hills  the  silver  fountain  pen,  inscribed  with  the  initials,  "W.  J. 
B.",  which  the  Great  Commoner  had  used  up  to  the  hour  of 
his  death. 

And  to  this  young  man  who  had  held  her  husband  so  dearly, 
the  widow  spoke  her  epitaph  for  him  by  whose  side  she  had 
lived,  and  loved,  and  worked  for  more  than  two  score  years. 

"You  are  the  representative  of  the  simple  people  who  loved 
my  husband,"  she  said.  "In  return,  he  loved  you  with  tender 
affection." 


